Open air

Vision / overview The core aim of this proposal is to mobilise a community of people to engage with ‘beyond activism’ and contribute to a prototype citizen science project to monitor air quality in Scotland. The trail and ultra-running community in Scotland represent a distributed community of individuals with a vested interest in the preservation of our natural environment and clean air. Many of the running community practice ecologically friendly running and this project proposes to establish a network of individuals who can contribute to a citizen science project that improves data collection of the quality of air in the environment.

Our vision is to explore the potential of the ultra-run as a site and host for community action-research. Our aim is to develop a citizen science project, using an ultra-distance run of nearly 300km over 5 days, as the vehicle, collecting and monitoring air quality on an ultra-distance running route, using open-source equipment of our own design. We would design and produce open-source air monitoring equipment that we will use to monitor air quality along an ultra-distance running route. We aim to ‘recruit’ runners along the route and use it as a focal point to enlist participants to take up our equipment and contribute data. To extend the impact of the existing approaches and understanding of environmental protection within the community, a programme of multi-disciplinary knowledge exchange workshops would be scheduled to explore ecological contexts of ultra-running in Scotland.

The project aims to empower communities of runners to collect and monitor their own data, raising awareness in local communities and contributing to a national picture of our environment. The project aims to build partnerships, encourage knowledge-sharing, increase awareness, and ultimately resilience to issues related to air quality.

Essentially the project is about mobilising a distributed community to contribute to a prototype project that has potential to scale.

Beyond engaging in citizen science, the aim of the project is to build connections between this community on the subject of ecological action. Developing interdisciplinary knowledge exchange through a project that focuses on the ecological context and potential impact of ultra-distance running as a vehicle for citizen science.

Approach and intended methodology A key aspect of the programme is the ‘Altyre Ultra’, a documented ultra-run held between the two campuses of Glasgow School of Art, Garnethill, Glasgow and Altyre, Forres. A 5 day ultra-run over a distance of approx. 300km. The Altyre Ultra run is developed by Dr Paul Smith (GSA) and can be joined by participants for any distance they wish. Workshops will be documented, including interviews with participants and invited speakers, and made accessible via our institutional websites. To extend the reach of the project we aim to produce a documentary film through which we will explore the ecological potential of ultra-running in ecological and psychological contexts; the film will be accessible to a range of audiences, increasing potential for impact upon running communities across Scotland and beyond, and Local Authority policymakers with responsibility for Culture and Sport and Environment.