Along four lines the City of Tomorrow and AiREAS do research before, during and after the Marathon of Eindhoven on October 11th, 2015. These lines of research have to do with the AiREAS objective to develop the core human values of health and air quality with the city with the involvement of all those who can contribute (government, civilians, scientists and business innovations).

The development uses the UNITED (Jean-Paul Close, Success guide for entrepreneur, 2008, in Dutch) way of Sustainocratic cocreation, UNITED meaning:

From a participant perspective: Understanding, Need and Involvement
From a leadership perspective: Targeted, Entrepreneurial and Devoted

The issue hence has to provide insight and knowledge but also a positive stimulous to the 130.000 participants and over 220.000 local citizens.

1st line of investigation: Hart and artery of sporters
We will install non invasive heart and artery measurement equipment and with a specialized team we do tests on sporters and their family members on the day before, during and after the marathon. This cross reference may give us an interesting view of the way our body handles this sport activity compared with those who support (a combination of “sport” and “up” 😉

Artery wall tension measurement

Artery wall tension measurement

2nd line of investigation: Stress and air quality exposure
With the use of special watches that measure the heart beat and GPS at the same time we can compare the exposure to air pollution and the level of physical stress at that moment.

3rd line of investigation: State of air pollution during the Marathon
Here we use two lines of research. The first is the fixed intelligent measurement system (ILM) in place in the city, producing fine maze and real time insight. The other is the ISPEX add-on device for mobile i-Phones. This does not provide real time insight but connects to a European project that closes on October 15th. Partners in Italy and Spain do measurements too so we get a European picture of the status of air quality in the different demographical and cultural regions.

The marathon and air pollution in real time

The marathon and air pollution in real time

4th line of investigation: Persuasive communication with the population
This is the first time (of course with the exception of the Olympic Games in Beijing) that such broad attention is given to air quality, the wellness of sporters and a local marathon. A call was passed through the local media for the public to leave the car at home during the Marathon day while avoiding barbecuing or burning woodstoves the night  before. All this to show collective solidarity with the sporters during this event. Many media picked up the challenge and passed the message, each with their own attached public modification. This will be subject for research but also through the reactions we measure through the blog, local interaction and the videos we will create  and publish.

In the end all this will feed our experience to cocreate healthy environments and learn how to involve the population through a paradigm shift inclusing a change of culture.

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