The Project & Cases

The iResponse project (2015-18) will develop and study social responsible ICT-based crowdsourcing tools for environmental research and decision-making processes based on citizen participation and engagement (crowdsourcing).

Crowdsourcing is the process of getting ideas, data and / or services from a large group of people, and especially from an online community and through information and communication technologies (ICTs). Crowdsourcing techniques are now being used by companies, organizations, governments, and research institutes, that seek to gather new knowledge and participation from online contributors. Crowdsourcing can be helpful for e.g. data collection, co-creation of ideas and solutions, and performing certain specific jobs.

In iResponse, we look at social responsible crowdsourcing for urban environmental research and decision-making. Contextual local knowledge is critical for sustainable and inclusive urban development. Crowdsourcing can play a role in processes to produce, use, exchange, and monitor contextual knowledge and co-creating plans and solutions for urban environments.  

Tools

Two crowdsourcing tools will be developed in the project following the principles of responsible research and innovation (RRI):

  1. An interactive platform to assess citizen acceptance of and involve them in co-creation of blue-green stormwater solutions and 
  2. An application (mobile app/web) to collect data about wood consumption for house heating for estimating emissions

Case studies

Three main case studies in urban environment will be carried out to test and evaluate the two developed crowdsourcing tools and an existing one, a public participatory map based questionnaire for urban planning (Mapita). The case studies will address different research questions and learning cases regarding the urban environment, citizen participation and crowdsourcing. 

  1. Sustainable water drainage - Stormwater

  2. Improved air quality - Wood burning

  3. Effective urban planning

The ICT crowdsourcing tools will enable citizens to influence urban planning and design by expressing their preferences, providing observations or user information. Different participatory ways are therefore foreseen with the use of the different crowdsourcing tools, involving different concerns and challenges. Social concerns will be mapped out and addressed, and possible solutions to overcome them will be proposed based on implementation and testing processes.  

The project aims at designing tools in a liable way towards responsibility, transparency and openness to the public, without compromising the quality of the research and user needs. In the last phase of the project, recommendations for the development and use of crowdsourcing as tools for environmental research and decision-making (including urban planning) will be elaborated as good practices within the ICT sector.