How to keep pollution under control with an app. The example of Finland
In Lahti, Finland, an app is in use that monitors pollution, measuring each citizen's CO2 emissions in relation to how they move.
Italians love smartphone apps, but not those with a high social content. The story of the " Immune " app downloaded by just 4.5 million citizens says that there is still a lot to do. Especially in the face of such complex phenomena. An epidemic infects, spreads, ignores states, social status, political opinions, economic situation.
The impact of Covid 19 has highlighted the environmental precariousness of entire areas of Italy. Scrupulous researchers have lifted the veil on the relationship between the spread of the virus and pollution. Those who did not want to hear had to do it badly. The sore point for the northern areas compromised by years of neglect, remain public controls and self-control. That ability to express to oneself and to others the surveillance of very damaging facts to avoid worse troubles. For Covid, we hope it works and people realize they have anti-contagion guidance software on the phone.
Can we do the same for smog, pollution, waste of energy? It seems so. In Italy it has not yet occurred to anyone – much less the Minister of the Environment – to experiment with something that makes citizens more responsible in the face of pollution drift.
Cities continue to be intoxicated by mobility exhausts and the government's proposals for incentives for bikes and scooters are all stalled two months ago. A summer scandal signed by the Government-Environment-Transport. In Finland, on the other hand, the solution of an app on the smartphone has been found and it works.
In the town of Lahti, 100 kilometers from Helsinki, an application is in use that measures the CO2 emissions of each citizen in relation to how they move. Use your private car, public transport, bike, motorbike or other, everything is recorded. The data is weekly and in the end the good inhabitants receive as a gift tickets for public transport, free admissions to parks and swimming pools, sweets at home.
Citicap (it's the name of the app) was born from a practical idea. It was funded by the European Union and inside it contains energy efficiency parameters to understand if you are on the right or wrong track, it is appropriate to say.
Lahti for 2021 is the Green Capital of the European Union, but already almost half of the trips for work, school, shopping are considered sustainable. However, through your smartphone you can earn up to two euros a week if the emissions are really low.
At the basis of the experimentation there was a serious research on the habits of the 120 thousand inhabitants who on average every week release the equivalent of 21 kilograms of CO2 into the air. In short, a positive example, in a country already well placed for the use of renewable energy, for the protection of the environment and sustainable mobility. The ability to keep pollution under control, like an epidemic, entrusted to citizens.
But what moves first is politics, a ruling class that wants to do things seriously with competence. Without rhetoric and proclamations, ultimately also harmful. Italy think about it.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/come-tenere-sotto-controllo-linquinamento-con-unapp-lesempio-della-finlandia/ on Fri, 04 Sep 2020 06:21:43 +0000.