Environment: ENEA launches crowdfunding compaign for its smog tracker
1/12/2016
It’s possible to contribute to the crowdfunding project at Eppela.com/monica and to give support through the social media
The first citizen science project at ENEA, an innovative way of public participation in scientific research activities, sharing and contributing the results, well known in the United States and Canada. The ENEA project MONICA (the acronym stands for Cooperative MONItoring of Air Quality), is a multisensory device that monitors personal exposure to air pollutants showing them on a smartphone application. This is the first time a Public Research Institution launches a shared science project supported by a crowdfunding campaign, with the support of the social media.
“The idea originated from a team of young researchers, believing in the importance of experimenting with new technologies and new ways of communicating them, so as to bring citizens closer to research, highlighting its positive impacts on everyday life”, Testa explained.
The campaign can be accessed at Eppela.com/monica, a crowdfunding platform also used by other public institutions, and through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Installed on bikes, strollers and scooters, this anti-smog GPS or smog tracker, measures the emissions along your path, showing them on the smartphone through an app, and sharing data with other users, creating actual green maps of air quality. “Our goal – Testa went on – is not just to find sources of funding at such a difficult time for research, but to have an informatory and participated approach to the environment and public health”.
Those interested will be able to contribute directly to the project, participate to the tests, visit the laboratories, test out the sensor and receive newsletters on the development and the results of the project.
MONICA is a project developed at the ENEA Portici Research center by the team of the Advanced Sensors Laboratory, expert in high-tech “electronic noses” employed in the aeronautic industry and volcanic gas monitoring.
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