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26
Sept
Interactive signs to be installed to help River Nidd clean-up
Ten interactive signs are to be installed along the River Nidd in Harrogate and Knaresborough to allow people to share information.
Signs will go up soon at Oak Beck Park, Knaresborough Lido, Valley Gardens, Nidd Gorge and Hookstone Beck.
The signs have QR codes which smartphone users can scan to share their findings, views, and get information about local bathing waters.
The Environment Agency has collaborated with comminication platform Hello Lamp Post on the scheme, which it is hoped will encourage people to become citizen scientists by sharing information that will inform work to clean-up the Nidd.
Nidd Action Group and Yorkshire Dales River Trust are also supporting the initiative.
Similar signs are being installed on Lake Windermere and the River Ribble.
River Nidd
David Clayden, chairman of Nidd Action Group, said:
This is part of a national project, and our signs have just arrived. The 10 signs will be installed soon, and we hope people find them informative, useful and even fun.
You just need a smartphone and an open, questioning mind. The AI-supported system behind the signs should give you a different experience at each of the sites. See if you can find them all.
Remember it is a pilot system, and the information that is available to you will develop in the light of your experience.
Kelly Haynes, citizen science advisor for the Environment Agency, said the initiative will help to gather more data on how people interact with their local watercourses. She added:
This clever piece of modern technology will explain all the whys, what and the what ifs of bathing water monitoring and our citizen science work. It will also allow participants to become a citizen scientist themselves and tell us about what they can see at the time they visit a specific bathing water.
We hugely value the contribution of England’s enthusiastic citizen scientists. This work is an important step bringing that together to gather real-time observation of the water environment and how it is being used.
I would encourage everyone living in the area or visiting to try out this new, interactive service.
The feedback service is available here and the survey is open until December 31.
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