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- Written by: Phoebus Panigyrakis
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“Microscale urban heat mapping: building upon the neighbour’s experiences and perceptions” was the title of the oral presentation in European Citizen Science Association held in Vienna and which brought together more than 400 citizen science practitioners. The presentation is available at Zenodo and dealt with the local urban heat experimentation in Barcelona.
A poster entitled "Urban Heat Stories: a chatbot for micro-stories on urban heat in Vienna" was also presented, exemplifying the participative research done in Vienna.
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- Written by: Phoebus Panigyrakis
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During October 2024, the OPUSH Delft team engaged with residents of monument houses in Delft to discuss their experiences and challenges that they face while living in a monument house. The perception of the residents was recorded firstly through a short survey that touched upon the level of comfort, any changes that their house has undergone, and any discrepancies between the installation requirements of alternative sources of energy and the structural integrity and possibilities of change in the monument buildings. In addition to that, the survey was followed by a short interview session with residents who wanted to share more information about the issues that they are facing, the research, analysis, or work that they have done on their own, and any additional collective effort needed to proceed in the future. Delft, being home to more than 1500 municipal and state monuments faces a challenge in the transformation towards sustainable sources of energy, with the situation being worsened from the part of residents who face increased costs due to economic, political, and environmental changes. The lack of an energy labeling for monument buildings also poses a problem for the proper monitoring of the extent of the problem.
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- Written by: Phoebus Panigyrakis
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In June 2024, the OPUSH Delft team engaged with public libraries’ “DOK designers”, a group of children aged between 7-12 years old to take part in the Citizen Science pilot “Check je plek”. There, the participants were invited to share from their experiences what is their favourite place in Delft, and what make this place unique and important to them. Having identified urban design elements a discussion was further developed about urban sustainability and life in the city. The pilot was followed with a second investigation of the interior design of the library itself and the participants’ own ideas about how the space of the library could look like and be re-arranged in order to facilitate study and play. The growing discussion and decisions of the group was aimed to the creation of a collective design for the public library.
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- Written by: Phoebus Panigyrakis
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The OPUSH Delft team participated in the Citizen Science Day 2024 in the 6th of April 2024 in Vienna, Austria with a workshop on Energy Transition in the context of ECSA conference 2024 (European Citizen Science Association). The workshop made use of thermal camera’s that track the infrared spectrum and which participants could use to track any deficiencies of energy usage in the building around them. The building in question was the Natuurhistorisched Museum of Vienna, built in the late 19th century. A monument in itself, the building offered the opportunity to confirm that participants can track on their own specific energy issues in monument buildings, that fits into the Energy Transition for Monument Houses Citizen Science pilot that OPUSH Delft is developing. Following that concept, equipment can be distributed to citizens to track on their own the energy efficiency of their home, identify heat leaks, and visualize on their own terms new problems such as excessive energy usage from light fixtures. Beyond the workshop concept and methodology in itself, the participants were also keen to explain and discuss their observations and experience through this activity, but also connections to challenges of energy transition from their environment. In addition, the issue of technological and digital competence that could be an obstacle in an equipment-based CS pilot, was well-received by the participants.
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- Written by: Sebastian Harnacker
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From July 3-5, 2024, representatives from TU Wien Bibliothek and TU Delft attended the LIBER 2024 Annual Conference in Limassol, Cyprus. This major event brought together academic library professionals across Europe to explore the transformative roles of libraries in urban sustainability and citizen science.
A key highlight of the conference was the joint presentation on "Connecting Cities and Universities: Libraries' Role in Citizen Science Pilots of Urban Sustainability." This session showcased how libraries can act as crucial connectors between universities and urban communities, driving citizen science projects aimed at sustainability. Through case studies from Vienna and Delft, the presentation demonstrated how libraries facilitate collaborations between researchers and the public.
Additionally, TU Wien and TU Delft's team presented a poster on advocacy for Citizen Science, which won the LIBER 2024 Poster Award. The poster emphasized the role of libraries in championing community-driven research and fostering partnerships between science and society.
Ahead of the conference, the two institutions also co-hosted a pre-conference workshop titled "Citizen Science: Partnerships for Science and Society," which focused on strategies to strengthen collaborations between libraries, researchers, and citizens.
The event underscored the vital role of libraries in promoting citizen science and advancing urban sustainability initiatives.