EnviMon

Climate change requires collective action and will affect younger generations in particular. However, climate protection is often an abstract concept, especially for children and young people. This is why the Center for Sustainable Urban Development, together with the local associations KlimaTaskforce e.V. and the-NT.space e.V., is initiating a citizen science project in Nürtingen to make climate protection tangible for children and teenagers.

As a participatory process, a climate measuring station, sensor boxes, workshops and a visualization concept are being developed and implemented to record the local microclimate. Through this self-experience as part of a do-it-yourself or do-it-together process, EnviMon promotes awareness of climate protection, addresses the “climate anxiety” of children and teenagers and motivates them to deal with climate change. 

How do subjective microclimate perceptions of children and young people differ from objectively measured microclimate parameters (e.g. temperature, humidity, illuminance) in urban areas?

What factors (type of location, time of day, degree of participation) influence these perception-measurement discrepancies?

To what extent does participatory involvement in the measurement and evaluation process change the climate-related perceptions and behavioural intentions of the participants?

The research project is implemented in five steps.

1. Internal development: Design and preparation of the climate measuring station, the workshop formats and the sensors
2. Participatory preparation: Construction of the climate measuring station with children and young people
3. Participatory implementation: Construction of the DIY sensor boxes with children and young people in a DIT setting, carrying out DIY measurements in their living environment; the climate measuring station is set up in public
4. Participatory evaluation: research results are evaluated and visualized with children and young people
5. Transfer and consolidation: The climate measuring station is placed in various locations and the project results are presented to the public. A toolbox (construction instructions for the climate measuring station and DIY sensor boxes) enables replicability.

The selection and further development of the measurement, survey and evaluation methods is research-led and is not subject to any external methodological requirements. The choice of methods is iteratively adapted within the project and scientifically justified. To measure success, both qualitative goals (perception of microclimate using psychometric questionnaires) and quantitative goals (including project reach) are pursued. More than 50 % of the project resources are allocated to the collection, analysis and scientific evaluation of microclimate data and the accompanying perception research.

The project provides empirical data on the relationship between subjective microclimate perception and objectively measured environmental parameters in urban areas. Patterns and deviations between perception and measured values are identified and systematically evaluated. The results contribute to research in the fields of environmental perception, citizen science and climate education and are transferable to comparable urban contexts.