Citizen metrology and engineering sciences: hybridization of literacies

So-called "citizen metrology" initiatives have proliferated around the world, drawing extensively on digital devices for measuring (connected objects, smartphones), sharing and disseminating data, as well as on dynamics that coexist, in a more or less consensual way, with approaches supported by political and public players, scientific institutions or health organizations. Referred to in the English-speaking world as "popular epidemiology", "citizen science", "street science", "crowdsourcing" or "environment-tracking These citizen metrologies cover a wide range of topics: air and water quality, pollens, biodiversity, noise and odour pollution, heat islands, household chemicals, pesticides, radioactivity, etc.

In the environmental field, the active participation of individuals in the enrichment of masses of data seems to be following an unprecedented trend, with citizens equipping themselves to get involved in matters that concern them. . After all, aren't the victims of environmental degradation the best placed to express their views on these problems, without necessarily having to mobilize scientists, technicians and public administration officials? More broadly speaking, the demand for an environmental democracy that takes into account the needs of affected populations has acquired a little more legitimacy today. . Relying on bottom-up initiatives, residents, users, patients, sports enthusiasts, hackers, etc. are now discovering their capacity for action, potentially demonstrating a citizen's reappropriation of problems too quickly abandoned to the monopoly of judgment by institutional players alone. ...