Amsterdam has always been known as a cool city...
...but not anymore.
With rising global temperatures and prolonged droughts, the dutch city is increasingly feeling the heat – literally.
Amsterdam now faces mounting summer challenges, from the urban heat island effect to overheating homes – a trend that is expected to worsen in the years to come.
That's why the I-CHANGE Project is turning to citizen science to decode these pressing problems and chart a path toward a cooler and more resilient life in the city.
Harnessing the power of citizen science to tackle urban heat
To illustate how citizens can contribute valuable data for scientific research, I-CHANGE has produced a short documentary about its Amsterdam Living Lab. “Amsterdam Living Lab: Citizen Science on Indoor Heat” sees two meteorologists take to the city’s streets and homes by bike, revealing how urban heat impacts everyday life.
Speaking with stakeholders and residents of Amsterdam, the film underscores the power of collaboration between Amsterdam’s citizens and researchers to understand – and respond to – the effects of climate change at a local level.
Understanding the challenges, finding solutions
I-CHANGEs' citizen science approach empowers ordinary people to contribute valuable data, share insights and participate in shaping solutions. In Amsterdam, a network of 100 citizens with installed weather stations at home have been enabled to track temperature and humidity levels, observe patterns and identify solutions against the heat.
An important part of changing our behaviour is awareness. In the I-CHANGE Project, people get to know what happens in their homes during a heat wave. […] This type of awareness is crucial to get meaningful behavioural change that people are really living – not because someone else says it, but because they understand.
Gerben Mol, Program Developer Climate Resilient Cities at AMS Institute.
About I-CHANGE
I-CHANGE - Individual Change of HAbits Needed for Green European transition - is a European Horizon 2020 project which runs for 3.5 years (Start date: 1 November 2021). The project aims to face the challenge of engaging and promoting the active participation of citizens for addressing climate change, sustainable development and environmental protection in the framework of the European Green Deal, the European Climate Pact and the European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. The activities of I-CHANGE are strongly rooted in real society through interaction, co-development and cooperation with eight interactive Living Labs across Europe (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bologna, Dublin, Genoa, and Hasselt), Israel and Burkina Faso. This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101037193.
To learn more about I-CHANGE, visit the website or follow the project on social media at LinkedIn, X and YouTube.
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