APIC is a challenge between citizens of 4 European cities who will compete to build the most complete (in time and space) map of air pollution for their city. The cities are London (UK), Antwerp (Belgium), Kassel (Germany), and Turin (Italy).
Here in London the mapping area will be in and around the Barbican within the ‘City of London’. The challenge consists of 3 stages and involves volunteers who will carry out two activities: Air Ambassadors will measure air pollution using sensor-boxes that we have developed especially for the research project. They will be required to walk around the streets surrounding the Barbican on a daily basis over a two week period (16th – 29th of October). Air Guardians will be asked to play an online game throughout the project (21st October – 1st December). Air Ambassadors will also need to get others actively involved in the online game by recruiting Air Guardians to join their team of online players.
London monitoring area
Stage 1 : Web game, 21st October – 3rd of November In the first phase we would like to know how air pollution in the City is perceived by its citizens. For this we have set up an online game, where players can flag the perceived pollution levels at different locations in the city. By flagging accurate pollution levels players earn points in the game which allows for more locations to be mapped. Anyone can participate in this phase and become an Air Guardian of the city. Can London beat the other cities in the number of locations mapped? The more active players we have, the better our map will be at the end. Also the three most active players (internationally) will be awarded T-shirts.
Stage 2 : Building the map, 4th – 17th of November This is when we start to build the pollution map, by obtaining measurements from around the Barbican. We will need between 10-20 volunteers (Air Ambassadors), depending on whether people wish to work in pairs and share the task. Each will be given a sensor box and backpack, especially tailored for electronic devices, and will have to install our Android App. They will walk around the mapping area as much as they can, over the a period of 2 weeks to build the air pollution map. We need measurements everywhere and at different times of the day and days of the week. The city with the best coverage will win the stage. The measurements recorded will be available on our website. All Air Ambassadors will be allowed to keep their backpack, while the best of all will also be given the sensor box.
Stage 3 : Web game and personal map, 18th of November – 1st December Once the map has been built, we would like to see what effect the new map has on peoples’ perception of air quality in the ‘City of London’. For this, Air Guardians will be called again to play our game, but now with the ability to see the real pollution map while playing. At the same time, Air Ambassadors will be able to use the sensor boxes in any area they prefer, as a bonus for having participated. The three most active Air Guardians (internationally) will be awarded T-shirts. At the end of the three stages we will declare the winning city to be the one with highest activity, cumulated between stages. The ten overall most active volunteers will receive the challenge T-shirt as a gift.
Prizes:
Stage 1 & 3:
The Air Guardian with the most credits in each city will receive a backpack with solar panels suitable for charging various electronic devices and the top 5 will win EveryAware T-shirts .
A special prize will also be awarded at the end of these two stages for the most faithful players!
Stage 2:
A sensor box will be awarded to the most active Air Ambassador in each city and they will also keep the EveryAware backpack.
The most active Air Guardians in this stage will again receive EveryAware T-shirts and backpacks.
Winning City:
All Air Ambassadors from the city that builds the most comprehensive map, Air Guardians are free to join too, will attend an award ceremony and social event to celebrate their achievement!
If you want to be an Air Ambassador contact us at: louise.francis@ucl.ac.uk