Doug Booker presented a seminar on 24 February 2022 which provoked the DSNE audience to consider the social aspects of air quality research. Doug highlighted that a holistic view of air quality was required, so alongside the monitoring and modelling of air pollutants, social elements should also be considered. Doug also suggests that more ‘better’ air quality data will not necessarily improve air quality, without other, further considerations of what actually constitutes air pollution, and how and where it occurs.

The audience were introduced to the concept of ‘critical air quality science’. This consists of the measuring or modelling air pollutants, understanding social influences, and knowledge politics (i.e. consideration of the values and biases of the scientist and/or instrumentation), and three tenets which link these areas of research, hybridity; reflexivity and power and justice:

· Hybridity introduces the need to consider the connection of making air pollution material measurements alongside the incorporation of social dynamics and engagement, such as what else is influencing air quality, such as transport policy or land-use patterns

· Reflexivity looks at the situated knowledge and questions what else should be considered, e.g. what levels of air quality are acceptable? Who is affected?

· Power and justice considers the effects of academic research, and states that it has impacts on the people who are studied. Therefore, researchers need to be conscious of their impacts.

Focusing on an air quality citizen science project based in the Old Swan area of Liverpool as a case study Doug discussed the challenges of incorporating knowledge created by non-academics into air quality science.

The involvement of non-expert citizens in science is becoming an increasingly popular method of data collection and has various benefits, including:

· Democratisation of science

· Improvements to scientific literacy

· Can provide different insights leading to new scientific breakthroughs

The case study looked at indoor and outdoor air quality in different areas of the Old Swan ward, defined as areas of concern by the ‘Better Old Swan’ group. The study looked at how outdoor pollution affects indoor air pollution at different times of day. Various tensions emerged from the study including how to; help citizens make ‘undone science’ matter in policy and practice; communicate air quality data when it could lead to further stigmatisation of the area as ‘dirty’; and best change the structural causes of poor air quality when its effects are being felt in the short-term and behaviour change initiatives feel like quick wins.

This was a very interesting talk and prompted further discussion about citizen science and the value of incorporating non-academic knowledge into science to provide alternative perspectives.

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