Measuring together is knowing Eersel

Citizen measurement projects as a key to consultation with the government

Since 2018, the residents of Eersel have been measuring fine dust and noise. In the meantime, they are part of a number of regional measurement projects, among other things to map the air pollution and noise nuisance around Eindhoven airport. 'The number of flights has increased sharply in recent years, and with it the nuisance in terms of noise and emissions,' says Cees Beemer, the driving force behind Measuring Together is Knowing in Eersel.

He himself lives on the west side of the airport. '70% of all aircraft pass there, and that causes quite a bit of nuisance. A few years ago, the government decided to investigate whether they could do something about the nuisance.' The government appointed former State Secretary Pieter van Geel to map out the impact on quality of life and to issue advice.

The municipality of Eersel asked Cees to represent them in that meeting. 'It's nice that people ask you for this, but you do have to organize your supporters. This is how the Sounding Board Group Eersel Eindhoven Airport was created. In 2018, we also set up a Sounding Board Group to carry out measurements of noise and particulate matter. Our group includes a representative of the GGD, Jean-Paul Close from the AiREAS cooperative, the IT specialist who developed our data portal, and people with technical and scientific expertise. That way you still have an impressive amount of knowledge together,' says Cees, visibly proud.

What you do yourself, you do better

'You notice that there is nuisance and that this is common among people. The GGD (Municipal Health Service) and the RIVM do calculate a few things, but as a citizen you still wonder whether those models correspond to how we feel here. And a measuring pole 12 kilometers away in Veldhoven is something different than just around the corner. Under the motto “to measure is to know”, we started working on a measuring project ourselves,' says Cees.

The first question you then ask yourself is which measuring device you choose. 'We wanted to bring the project close to the residents. That is why we first opted for small measuring boxes to connect to your telephone and with which people had to walk for a while. A nice product, but in practice it didn't work on every type of mobile phone.'

'We then joined Civity's Snuffelfiets project: you hang a small measuring box on your bicycle, and after your trip you immediately notice where there was air pollution on your route. In Utrecht they had 500 of those boxes, we have 10. The interesting thing is that you also see where those 9 other people have cycled, and over time you notice where cycling is healthy and where it is not. That was the first step towards visibility for our group.'

Own data portal

In the meantime they are working in Eersel with better sensors from Intemo . To improve the system, Cees and his team had contact with the University of Delft, the municipality of Eersel, and then also with a graduating IT professional who built a portal himself, completely according to the instructions of the Sounding Board Group. ' Our data portal has become more and more beautiful and professional. Now I can easily check an exact location, and extract the fireworks peaks, for example. That boy has meanwhile started his own business, by the way.' In addition, it is possible to compare the measurement results with other sensors, which only improves the reliability of the results.

Under the banner “Together is to know”, the local measurement projects work together with the GGD. 'That is the point of contact for municipalities, while RIVM has in-depth knowledge. We work very well together with the representative of the municipality of Eersel. And we are also in contact with the municipality of Eindhoven, which is much larger than Eersel and therefore has much more manpower. Incidentally, a similar project is underway in Eindhoven-North, and we are constantly exchanging data. In this way we learn from each other,' Cees concludes.

Health gain

Qualitative measurements and constructive consultation are of course very important, although you must always keep your goal clearly in mind. That is why Cees wrote what he himself calls a "good story": Health gain, a summary of many reports and insights, neatly checked at the GGD. 'That gave me clear arguments with which I could say more emphatically: this is what we do it for. I sent that story to the municipal council, to various village councils and sounding board groups, up to and including the Challenge Group of Pieter van Geel and his successor. As a result, there is now a regional health working group.'

Ambition

In addition to the small-scale briefcase and the much larger story of the health gain, the sounding board group has other goals in mind: to get Eersel so far that the municipality wants to sign the Clean Air Agreement, and to advise the municipality on the development of new residential areas, for example. 'Even before a shovel goes into the ground, the municipality will then be aware of the consequences in terms of air pollution and noise pollution'.

Watch and learn: tips and experiences from the Sounding Board Group Measuring from Eersel

1. Think first , then act: 'First think about what you want to achieve, and draw up a project plan. What do you do, what don't you do? We also know of measurement projects that started handing out measuring devices without a clear idea of what they wanted to achieve with them. You get stuck on that, you have to know where you want to end up.'
2. Testing, testing, testing: 'A learning point is: start with thorough testing beforehand in a pilot project, and make clear agreements. Only when everything is more or less running do you expand your project. That also makes it easier to assist citizens.'
3. Under supervision: 'A tip for government agencies: make sure that citizen projects can go somewhere for advice, for example at the RIVM. This way you can gain experience as an enthusiastic, starting group and get tips about which measuring instruments to choose best.'