DIG DATA:
AIR QUALITY CHALLENGE

What Are We Looking For?

The current available air quality data is confusing and does not meaningfully inform Kosovo’s citizens about what to do in the moment, but also how to improve Kosovo’s air quality overall.

 

As MFK understands it:

 

  1. Stakeholders and everyday citizens need air quality data.
  2. At risk groups need to understand their higher exposure risks and be able to make informed decisions about their exposure.
  3. The Government of Kosovo not only has data, it is required to comply with open data requirements.
  4. The data should be trusted and accurate.
  5. The data should be contextualized and clear to everyday citizens. Contextualization efforts should include:
    1. Crediting the data source (US Embassy, KEPA, Apple air quality alerts, personal sensors, etc.),
    2. What factors the data is measuring,
    3. What kind of sensing device is being used,
    4. How is the sensing device calibrated or maintained and if the calibration/maintenance is up-to-date,
    5. Where the sensing device is located, considering elevation and factors that may affect the reading,
    6. Attributable sources of air pollution, and
    7. What the data may signify for air quality at the measured level—examples include, but are not limited to, explaining the implications for:
      1. Health (eg. respiratory conditions, preterm birth, cancer, ischemic heart disease, etc.)
      2. Visibility
      3. Travel/transit
      4. Academic performance
      5. Closures
      6. Heating
      7. Agriculture Performance
  6. Upon receipt of this information, everyday citizens should feel empowered and understand pathways they can take to address air quality on both:
    1. A personal level (stay inside, avoid using cars, etc.) and
    2. A civic level (advocating for measures to improve air quality or reduce the impact of air pollution via spatial city planning, new regulations or laws, improved adherence to or enforcement of existing regulations or laws, transport measures, green spaces, etc.).
  7. Citizen activities should be productive and solution-oriented rather than selfish (eg, prioritizing personal benefit over community health) and antagonistic (promoting an adversarial relationship with the government).
  8. These activities should continue to build ongoing demand for more open government data.

 

We are looking for grant applications that propose a government partner to develop tools, approaches, or services that will address these factors

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