Building Bridges Through Infrastructure: Citizen Science and Institutional Integration in Air Quality Monitoring

Citizens are increasingly using low-cost sensors to measure their surroundings, for example air quality. Sensor measurements offer greater temporal and spatial resolution and therefore have the potential to complement official monitoring practices. However, the integration of citizen science (CS) data into official frameworks is still limited. CS data are often perceived as “messy”, with barriers such as concerns about data quality, the absence of standard methodologies, and perceptions of unreliability. While these challenges are well-documented, the critical role of infrastructure in bridging CS data and institutional frameworks has received less attention. This study examines the case of Measure Together, a government-funded project and community that functions as a boundary organisation to bridge the gap between CS initiatives and institutional air quality monitoring. We explore how a CS infrastructure emerges through a combination of relational, organisational and technical factors aimed at making sense of CS data. We further analyse how this CS infrastructure is beginning to merge with official monitoring infrastructure, resulting in a hybrid infrastructure that seeks to combine local data and insights from CS with the standardised and rigorous approaches of official monitoring. Our analysis highlights critical tensions, including conflicts between local and generic data, the action-oriented expectations of many CS participants versus the long-term timelines of official infrastructure, and challenges around trust and standardisation. We conclude by identifying pathways to navigate these tensions, emphasizing the need for adaptive, participatory infrastructure that balance rigour with societal relevance, fostering greater integration between CS and official infrastructures.