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Air Partners: Community-Driven Air Monitoring, Mitigation, and Collaborative Governance in Boston, MA
SCOTT HERSEY, Allison Busa, Abigail Fry, Maia Materman, Megan Ku, Miranda McMillen, Francelis Morillo Suarez, Eben Cross, David Hagan, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Abstract Number: 427
Working Group: Translating Aerosol Research for Societal Impact: Science Communication and Public Outreach
Abstract
Air Partners is a community-engaged research group based at Olin College of Engineering that has a mission of supporting local community partners in improving the environmental and racial injustice aspects of air pollution. Air Partners seeks to not only understand the dynamics of air pollution in Environmental Justice (EJ) communities, but also to supplement that understanding with engineering and design to make tangible steps toward greater air justice with a range of stakeholders. We employ a framework of multi-stakeholder planning and execution to identify needs and opportunities, propose work, secure funding, conduct research and pilot work, and communicate results in an understandable way to a variety of audiences. Research outputs are primarily designed to support community-based capacity building, advocacy and collaborative governance to promote air health in the near-source environmental justice communities in Boston, MA, and academic publications are strategically pursued to establish the credibility of our results.
While much of the work of Air Partners is oriented toward community-initiated direct intervention for air monitoring and mitigation, we have also established strong relationships with elected officials at the city, state, and federal levels to directly influence and co-author air quality legislation, aiming to shorten the lag time associated with translating scientific insights into policy. Our paradigm is both community-driven and closely aligned with Olin's mission of practicing people-centered engineering while developing students, and incorporates community-based development, social entrepreneurship, environmental policy, and evidence-driven air quality science and engineering to improve air quality in at-risk communities.
Here we present a case study of our work, describing the process of identifying opportunities, collecting data with a range of low-cost and reference instrumentation, and translating results into actionable insights for community stakeholders.