After four years of collaborative planning and deployment, Boston’s first environmental sensor network is now complete through the Common SENSES action-research project. The network includes 24 air quality sensors and 51 heat and noise sensors spread across Roxbury and Dorchester along Blue Hill Avenue, measuring extreme heat, noise, and air quality to support environmental justice action.
Rooted in community participation, over 300 Boston residents contributed through 17 events and seven co-design workshops. The project brought together the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI), Project R.I.G.H.T. Inc, the Boston Area Research Initiative (BARI) with researchers from Northeastern University, and the City of Boston’s Office of Emerging Technology.
The sensor network combines community stories with real-time environmental data, empowering residents, researchers, and City leaders to identify effective solutions for environmental hazards. The open data is now available online, enabling analysis that can inform policies, advocacy, and projects to address pollution, extreme heat, and noise in neighborhoods historically impacted by environmental injustice.
On January 27th, a public event showcased the completed network, with Abdullahi Bello, Research Assistant & PhD Student shown in the photo below, presenting the data portal. The event brought together community members, City Councilors, and other stakeholders. Visit the Common SENSES data portal to explore the live sensor data.
Funded by the National Science Foundation’s Smart and Connected Communities program, Common SENSES demonstrates how community-led innovation and cutting-edge technology can create meaningful change in Boston
