Citizen Science for Transformative Air Quality Policy in Germany and Niger

Citizen science for monitoring the health and well-being related Sustainable Development Goals and the World Health Organization's Triple Billion Targets

Achieving the health and well-being related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the World Health Organization's (WHO) Triple Billion Targets depends on informed decisions that are based on concerted data collection and monitoring efforts. Even though data availability has been increasing in recent years, significant gaps still remain for routine surveillance to guide policies and actions. The COVID-19 crisis has shown that more and better data and strengthened health information systems are needed to inform timely decisions that save lives. Traditional sources of data such as nationally representative surveys are not adequate for addressing this challenge alone. Additionally, the funding required to measure all health and well-being related SDG indicators and Triple Billion Targets using only traditional sources of data is a challenge to achieving efficient, timely and reliable monitoring systems. Citizen science, public participation in scientific research and knowledge production, can contribute to addressing some of these data gaps efficiently and sustainably when designed well, and ultimately, could contribute to the achievement of the health and well-being related SDGs and Triple Billion Targets. Through a systematic review of health and well-being related indicators, as well as citizen science initiatives, this paper aims to explore the potential of citizen science for monitoring health and well-being and for mobilizing action toward the achievement of health and well-being related targets as outlined in the SDG framework and Triple Billion Targets. The results demonstrate that out of 58 health and well-being related indicators of the SDGs and Triple Billion Targets covered in this study, citizen science could potentially contribute to monitoring 48 of these indicators and their targets, mostly at a local and community level, which can then be upscaled at a national level with the projection to reach global level monitoring and implementation. To integrate citizen science with official health and well-being statistics, the main recommendation is to build trusted partnerships with key stakeholders including National Statistical Offices, governments, academia and the custodian agencies, which is mostly the WHO for these health and well-being related targets and indicators.

One Digital Health Intervention for Monitoring Human and Animal Welfare in Smart Cities: Viewpoint and Use Case

Smart cities and digital public health are closely related. Managing digital transformation in urbanization and living spaces is challenging. It is critical to prioritize the emotional and physical health and well-being of humans and their animals in the dynamic and ever-changing environment they share. Human-animal bonds are continuous as they live together or share urban spaces and have a mutual impact on each other's health as well as the surrounding environment. In addition, sensors embedded in the Internet of Things are everywhere in smart cities. They monitor events and provide appropriate responses. In this regard, accident and emergency informatics (A&EI) offers tools to identify and manage overtime hazards and disruptive events. Such manifold focuses fit with One Digital Health (ODH), which aims to transform health ecosystems with digital technology by proposing a comprehensive framework to manage data and support health-oriented policies. We showed and discussed how, by developing the concept of ODH intervention, the ODH framework can support the comprehensive monitoring and analysis of daily life events of humans and animals in technologically integrated environments such as smart homes and smart cities. We developed an ODH intervention use case in which A&EI mechanisms run in the background. The ODH framework structures the related data collection and analysis to enhance the understanding of human, animal, and environment interactions and associated outcomes. The use case looks at the daily journey of Tracy, a healthy woman aged 27 years, and her dog Mego. Using medical Internet of Things, their activities are continuously monitored and analyzed to prevent or manage any kind of health-related abnormality. We reported and commented on an ODH intervention as an example of a real-life ODH implementation. We gave the reader examples of a "how-to" analysis of Tracy and Mego's daily life activities as part of a timely implementation of the ODH framework. For each activity, relationships to the ODH dimensions were scored, and relevant technical fields were evaluated in light of the Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable principles. This "how-to" can be used as a template for further analyses. An ODH intervention is based on Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable data and real-time processing for global health monitoring, emergency management, and research. The data should be collected and analyzed continuously in a spatial-temporal domain to detect changes in behavior, trends, and emergencies. The information periodically gathered should serve human, animal, and environmental health interventions by providing professionals and caregivers with inputs and "how-to's" to improve health, welfare, and risk prevention at the individual and population levels. Thus, ODH complementarily combined with A&EI is meant to enhance policies and systems and modernize emergency management.

Assuming accuracy, pretending influence? Risks of measuring, monitoring and reporting sustainable development goals

From the local to global level, indicators and reports are produced and published to support the transition towards sustainable development. Building from two European-level science-policy workshops, this perspective essay discusses the types of risks involved with such sustainability reporting. The analysis is rooted in the framework of the UN 2030 Agenda and sustainable development goals (SDG). As a globally adopted framework, it provides an example of how risks are either recognised and framed, or non-recognised. Well recognised risks include data availability for SDGs and siloed preparation of indicators, while risks receiving less attention are ritualistic reporting lacking a critical evaluation of the limitations of the SDG framework itself. These different risks are likely to reinforce each other. A specific risk is a too narrow focus on one-way communication aiming to inform individual policy decisions. Risks related to SDGs are best managed with iterative, integrative and interactive knowledge production fostering holistic understanding.