The “Citizen Sensing Paradigm” to Foster Urban Transitions: Lessons from Civic Environmental Monitoring in Rome

Rome is a complex metropolis. The city faces the challenge to imagine and shape an inclusive and sustainable future for its inhabitants. Often, city policies and interventions did not fulfil the goals to preserve environmental resources. On their part, inhabitants of Rome tend to distrust the ability of institutions to take care of the city’s resources. We zoom in on civic environmental monitoring led by the local association A Sud and aimed at assessing the environmental status of two rivers. From a review of applicable governance, environmental and social justice, and climate urbanism literature, we build a theoretical frame to guide our analysis. We inquire how civic monitoring in a complex city can benefit urban resources governance and foster urban transitions. We also explore to what extent these initiatives informed scientists and policy-makers responsible for designing city adaptations. Our analysis demonstrates that the citizen-gathered data can enrich the scientific knowledge base and trigger claims for interventions in political and even judicial fora, bringing in information on local issues overlooked by competent institutions. We also concluded that the initiatives improved individual and collective attitudes towards the city and its resources stimulating a sense of care and a watchful citizenship.

BERTI SUMAN Anna;  PECA Maura;  GREYL Lucie;  GRECO Laura;  CARSETTI Paolo; 

2023-12-15

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS

JRC128925

2190-8249 (online),    1867-299X (print),   

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-risk-regulation/article/citizen-sensing-paradigm-to-foster-urban-transitions-lessons-from-civic-environmental-monitoring-in-rome/6969164B2780DD8814014C7E8EC37D1B,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC128925,   

10.1017/err.2022.28 (online),