Citizen diagnosis of the sound environment of Rezé – Sonorezé II

SonoRezé II: Citizen diagnosis of sound environments

SonoRezé II: Citizen diagnosis of sound environments

A triptych of local authorities, residents and researchers discussing the diagnosis and management of urban noise environments

The regulation of noise environments is a major issue in urban planning, against a context of urban densification, increased mobility and strong social demand for peace and quiet. But this regulation comes up against a gap between, on the one hand, quantitative, objectified and normative approaches to noise, which are sometimes far removed from perceptions, and, on the other hand, sensitive and qualitative approaches that sometimes make generalisations difficult.<br />The aim of the Sonorezé II project, jointly developed by the town of Rezé, the UMRAE (Unité Mixte de Recherche en Acoustique Environnementale) and the UMR 6590 ESO (Espaces et Sociétés), is to propose a protocol for citizen diagnosis of noise environments that can be transposed to a variety of areas. In particular, the aim is to study how a participatory tool, the smartphone application NoiseCapture, developed by the UMRAE, can be used to enhance local knowledge and facilitate the involvement of local people in the development of public policies. NoiseCapture enables residents to take objective measurements using their calibrated smartphones, to produce a participatory noise map.<br /><br />The Sonorezé II project is based on a triptych of «Local authority - Residents - Researchers«, dialoguing around the issue of diagnosing and managing urban noise environments. It follows on from the Sonorezé exploratory project, funded by the I-Site Future as part of the 2021 «researchers - citizens« call for projects.<br />The Sonorezé II project includes in particular:<br />- A T1 task to lead a group of mobilised residents (collective measurement sessions, awareness-raising actions on the issue of noise, shared perceptual mapping sessions of noise environments, concerted actions to protect noise environments involving the City of Rezé and residents);<br />- A T2 task to develop the technical aspects of the NoiseCapture smartphone application and the web infrastructure used to display the data;<br />- A T3 task to define protocols for drawing up alternative noise maps based on the participatory process, and to analyse the empowerment processes and collective work protocols;<br />A transversal task T4, studying the transferability of the approach to other areas.