Dozens of residents registered their city’s votes

This is the first of its kind in France on such a large scale. For more than 6 months, dozens of Rezé residents have been recording the noise of their neighborhood via an app. Initiative of the city of Rzes and Gustave Eiffel University of Beugnet. Objective: to identify quiet areas and noisy areas, to find common solutions to combat noise pollution.

Robert has lived in Rezé for 23 years. Although he says he lives in a relatively quiet area, he is very annoyed by some of the noise. “What bothers me the most is the noise of the planes when they take off.” Identifies.

Record live sounds

It was this noise pollution that prompted Rezéen to try a new experiment called “Sonorezé”. Thanks to the Noise Capture smartphone app, he has been recording all the sounds around him for 6 months.

A form of participatory science, which also seduced Marie-Pierre, who lived in Rize for six years. “I think citizen science is the future. It allows all viewpoints to be taken into account in a logical way. I find that very constructive.”

Participatory science enables reliable data collection.

The experiment was conducted in partnership with Gustave Eiffel University in Bugna. “We researchers will be able to capture acoustic environments in a small town, but not in a town like Rezé, Explains Arnaud Kahn, a researcher in environmental acoustics at Gustave Eiffel University in Beugnet. “This is why participatory science is essential to us. It allows us to collect more reliable data and, above all, see how the population is taking advantage of this opportunity.”

This collect real-time audio data Then the participants are allowed to discuss it with the elected officials. “The idea is to engage everyone around the world, Claire Joyo, Nature City assistant in Rize explains. It is not only the scientific data that must be taken into account, but also the healthy everyday perceptions of the population.

In the end, the goal is Map noise and noise pollution control. And even if the results are already in place, participants say they want to keep recording the sounds around them. If they were about twenty volunteers at the start of the trial in January, they are now roughly 130 participants.