What if instead of creating a new community from a scratch, we seek and approach existing communities in Barcelona?
The strategy is to research which existing communities in Barcelona could be identified as a potential users of the Smart Citizen sensing devices as well as contributors to the open data platform.
There are several interesting group to investigate:
urban gardeners, members of science clubs, engineering students, civic centers members, environmentalists, etc…
The aim of this project is focused on the urban gardening community in Barcelona, who redefine vacant plots all across the city and turn them into gardens, cultivate crops and produce food independently. There are more then 50 urban gardens in Barcelona but not all of them are equally discoverable and accessible via internet.
The project scenario is to contact the members of urban gardening community, either via email or personally and introduce the Smart Citizen project and its benefits to the community. Modified or customized shield with a specific set of sensors, such as temperature, humidity, soil moisture, luminosity, etc.., can be deployed in the gardens and collect data, monitor and create trigger messages. Data can be collected and stored in an independent platform or as a part of Smart Citizen platform. This platform will also serve as a forum, providing up-to-date information on plants, crops and products. Mobile application can be a useful extension of the platform, enabling an easy navigation, sensor data control and information exchange.
The application of these technologies could bring a new aspect to the strategies of urban gardening and do-it-yourself food production, which will become more and more important part of the city future.
The community can become more discoverable and accessible to the public and thus become an important source of information about the city.
