10 June 2025
Bilbao Campus
More than 3,000 students from 130 schools throughout Spain have taken part in the AmIAire project, a citizen science and research-action initiative promoted by Deusto that has made it possible to monitor air quality. The University, together with the Ibercivis Foundation and Scicling, will celebrate the closing of this activity on 10 June with an event where students from schools in both Bizkaia and other parts of Spain will share their experiences. This event will be held at 11:00 in the Gárate Room.
AmIAire (https://amiaire.org/) is a project funded by the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT), within the framework of its call for grants for the promotion of scientific, technological and innovation culture. The University of Deusto, through its Faculty of Engineering, has led the scientific development and the generation of educational materials for the project, in collaboration with the Ibercivis Foundation, in charge of scientific communication, and the Scicling initiative, which has brought science to the classroom through bicycle rides between several participating centres.
Throughout the 2024/2025 academic year, students aged 8 to 17 have assessed air quality using a simple and affordable method: white cards coated with petroleum jelly that capture airborne particles when exposed outdoors for a week. This approach has allowed them to visually differentiate between areas with higher and lower levels of pollution.
Impact of everyday actions
In primary education, students have used the scientific method to observe the condition of the cards after exposure, either with the naked eye or with the aid of magnifying glasses. In secondary education, digital cameras and specialised software developed by the University of Deusto have been used to analyse sensor images and automatically identify pollution levels. The images obtained have been geolocated, generating a collaborative virtual map that collects the observations made in different parts of the country: https://analisis.amiaire.org/map_contributions.
The project had three main objectives. Firstly, to raise students’ environmental awareness and their understanding of how everyday actions—such as the type of transport used to get to school—impact air quality. Secondly, to create an open database useful for research teams working on sustainability and sensor technology, complementing data from fixed atmospheric monitoring stations. And finally, to provide relevant information to support decision-making by public authorities on mobility and environmental issues, both in urban and rural areas.
All the educational materials created have been produced in easy-to-read format, supporting the inclusion of people with reading difficulties and promoting diversity in the classroom.
Presentations at the OSOTU centre and Deusto
The final event of the project will be held on 10 June in the Gárate Room at the University of Deusto, and will also be streamed live via Zoom. (access link). During the event, the most significant results of this edition will be presented, and several participating schools will have the opportunity to share their experiences. The event will feature presentations by the AmIAire team, contributions from schools in Biscay, and testimonials from students from other regions including Cantabria, Castilla y León, Andalusia, Navarre, and the Valencian Community.
As a preliminary activity, on 9 June, part of the team will visit the OSOTU Lanbarri school (Güeñes) to learn firsthand about the experience of the teachers and students involved in the project.
