50 years of science, citizen activism and policy making on air pollution

In the past few months, the billboards of CurieuzenAir, the research project involving citizen participation to measure air pollution, have appeared all over Brussels. But the involvement of Brussels residents in the theme of air pollution is not new. A new study of the Cosmopolis Centre for Urban research of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel looks at how the relationships between science, citizen activism and policy-making has evolved over the past 50 years. The analysis shows that scientific expertise has sometimes supported the ambitious actions of citizens, but just as often has defended the status quo. da Schio: "Knowledge about air pollution is essential, both to challenge the status quo and to imagine a different urban reality. But science itself does not lead to change, and I say this as a scientist: everything depends on the way stakeholders appropriate and mobilize scientific knowledge. We also need to recognize other forms of knowledge, and be aware of their potential to make a problem visible and address it." Citizens set the agenda.