The first Making Sense campaign in Barcelona kicked off on Saturday 5th November with a full house. A few short presentations from project organisers Gui Seiz, Guillem Camprodon and Mara Balestrini took the attendants through the ambition of the Making Sense project, the technology we’ll be appropriating for the first sensor – Smart Citizen – and a call to arms to get in involved in the first pilot.

But first we have to make sense of the issues that surround us and the community and resources we have at our disposal.

Issue mapping

We all gathered together to map pressing issues in different Barcelona neighbourhoods for the Making Sense team and the first pilot participants to start scoping.

Resource mapping

The next thing we mapped was the community resources to identify opportunities and contributions from within the attendees and prospective community. Participants pinned a post it with their name, email and skills to a target that indicated the type of contribution and time available to dedicate to the project.

It is easy to forget just how diverse and multitalented a community of activists can be it was fantastic to see that we had local residents designers, teachers, developers, economists and activists in attendance (and some were all of the above!)
 

#LearningByTheAction! ?
Mapeando a través de post-it recursos, ideas, talleres… que podrían aportar los participantes en el proyecto pic.twitter.com/UreOEFo6lf

— Kubik Barcelona (@kubikbcn) November 5, 2016

What’s next

For the initial pilot we have a limited set of sensors, so the next step is selecting 25 participants to help us test the technology and methodologies – ready for the beginning of sensing next week!

The Making Sense team in Barcelona wants to thank everyone for their contribution, and we look forward to seeing what we can sense, make sense and make better in our neighbourhoods

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If so, we’d love to invite you to the launch of the Making Sense project, Saturday 5th November in the FabLab Barcelona at the IaaC.

We will be presenting, among other things, the fablab, the first project with sensors, the new Smart Citizen kits and developing a loose discussion on the themes of open source technologies, open data, urban environmental issues and citizen participation.

We will be collecting a list of participants for the first project which begins a week later, and will include deploying personal sensors, data visualisation discussions, as well as 3D printing, , electronics and laser cutting workshops, for beginners and intermediates alike.

So if these are things you’ve always wanted to learn. Get involved on the 5th
 

About Making Sense EU

Making Sense a EU funded project that looks to empower citizens through personal digital manufacturing, co-designing and deploying of environmental sensors.

We will to explore how open source software, open source hardware, digital maker practices and open design can be effectively used by local communities to fabricate their own sensing tools, make sense of their environments and address pressing environmental problems in air, water, soil and sound pollution.

For more information visit us on

www.making-sense.eu
facebook.com/MakingSenseEU
twitter.com/MakingSenseEU
#MakingSenseEU

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A rapidly growing number of Smart Citizens take the future of the cities in which they live, work and play into their own hands. This takes knowledge, stamina, and access to networks of likeminded people. A large number of labs – like Fab Labs, Wet Labs, Maker Spaces and Code Clubs – are the places where this is happening at an increasingly massive scale. Their protagonists are artists, scientists and hackers, together cracking the code of hardware, software and wetware, coming up with new ideas and developing meaningful applications. In doing so, they gain a deeper understanding of the issues and forces that shape our world, and become (once again) the makers of change that our societies dearly need.

During the Smart Citizen Talks we explored a wide range of bottom up and grassroots initiatives, initiated by people who care about their environment: The human approach to improving the cities living conditions. Small actions that can create big impact.

You can read more about the event via this link.

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