SCENTinel

SCENTinel Project

Climate Change and Scent Heritage: The Urgent Need for Capturing and Preserving Olfactory Landscapes in a Changing World

Start date: April 2024
End date: April 2026
Duration: 36 months
Total budget: €428,200
Programme: CCH 2023 – Climate and Cultural Heritage

OBJECTIVES

The SCENTinel project aims to develop an innovative urban odour monitoring system to address the effects of climate change on quality of life and olfactory cultural heritage.

The goal is to recognize and preserve olfactory landscapes as an essential component of local cultural identity, while also encouraging active citizen participation. Through the use of smart multisensory networks, digital technologies, and community engagement tools, the project seeks to improve urban resilience and support urban planning with new sensory indicators.

THE PROJECT

SCENTinel – Smart multi-sensor Networks for Urban Odour Monitoring is a European project funded under the JPI Climate / Belmont Forum call, which pioneers the conservation of olfactory heritage in urban areas in relation to climate change.

The project takes a multidisciplinary approach that combines science, technology, art, and civic participation to identify, measure, and valorize the smells present in urban space. Through digital sensor networks, participatory methodologies (citizen science), and advanced spatial analysis, SCENTinel collects data on the odours that define neighbourhoods, landscapes, and people’s everyday experiences.

Smells are thus considered not only as environmental indicators, but also as cultural elements capable of evoking memories, emotions, and a sense of belonging. The project also aims to produce practical tools for local governments, urban planners, and communities, contributing to a more sensitive, inclusive, and sustainable urban planning.

PARTNERSHIP

Lead Partner:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) – Department of Chemical Engineering – NTNU

Project Partners:
Institute of Information Theory and Automation of the ASCR (Czech Republic), National Research Council – Institute of Optics (CNR-INO, Italy), Venetian Cluster (Italy)

Associated Partners:
University College London (UK), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), ZRC SAZU – Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Slovenia), KU Leuven (Belgium)

🔗 Learn more about the project: https://jpi-climate.eu/project/scentinel/