Socratus
Do you notice how the air hangs heavy with dust and smoke near your child’s school in the morning? Or wonder why one road always seems hazier than the next? You already notice differences in the air around you. But what more could we understand if we had the data to see those differences too?
A city-wide air-quality number gives us a broad picture. But one number cannot tell us what is happening on every street. We need more measurements, from more places and over time, to start seeing the patterns: where pollution builds up, when it happens, and how one neighbourhood differs from another.
But data can only tell us so much. It can show us where pollution is high. Residents can often tell us why. Is it the waste being burned around the corner? Dust from a construction site? Traffic building up at a particular junction? Something that happens every morning outside a school?
That’s why we need more eyes on the ground. By hosting low-cost sensors where you live, work and spend time, residents can help build a richer picture of local air quality — and bring the context that makes the data useful.
As part of Bengaluru Climate Data Week 2026, in collaboration with Climate Collective Foundation, we’re bringing together residents, neighbourhood groups, schools, techies, researchers, civil society organisations nd civic actors to explore what local data can reveal, what residents can add to the picture, and what we can do with the information we gather