Students measure the air quality on their school driveway

Fifty fifth-year students at the De Krekel School in Sint-Amandsberg are currently measuring air quality on their way to school. Until November 24, they will travel to school with special sensors on their backpacks or bicycles. The result appears directly on an interactive dashboard.

Students of the De Krekel School in Sint-Amandsberg are not prepared for the test. For example, they participated in air quality measurements during the Kurizenzen project. Now they are moving forward: from November 14 to 24, fifty fifth-year students will measure the air quality themselves on their way to school.

Students measure the amount of particles using special sensors on their backpacks or bicycles. The result can be seen on an interactive dashboard, where streets turn green, orange or red, depending on the air quality. This way, all students gain insight into the healthiest way to get to school.

In a separate class activity, students also go places in the immediate school environment to measure particles. This gives them more knowledge about the factors that play a role in the air quality in their school environment.

European project

De Krekel’s experiments are part of the European Horizon 2020 CompAIR project, in which Digital Flanders and the Flemish Environment Agency are studying air quality using citizen science. The city of Ghent is participating in the pilot project.