
A Collective Awareness Platform for Promoting Dark Skies in Europe
Objective
WHAT: STARS4ALL will create an Light Pollution Initiative (LPI) incubation platform that will allow generating (and maintaining) customizable on-demand domain-focused LPIs (e.g., a light pollution working group in Brussels). The platform will be self-sustainable: it will integrate a crowdfunding tool to obtain funding for the LPIs; it will consider incentives that motivate citizens to participate in LPIs, as well as policies to handle those incentives; and it will provide innovations in data acquisition from sensors deployed by citizens and in games with a purpose.
HOW: STARS4ALL will initially deploy 10 LPIs, which will be available by the end of the 1st semester of project execution, and will be operating and creating collective awareness during the rest of the project. At that moment we pave the way the creation of other LPIs by citizens, specially in other disciplines such as Energy Saving, Biodiversity, and Human Health, and will organize open competitions among them.
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation action



Coordinator
UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE MADRID
Address
Calle Ramiro De Maeztu 7 Edificio Rectorado
28040 Madrid
Spain
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
EU Contribution
€ 568 130
Participants (8)
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CEFRIEL SOCIETA CONSORTILE A RESPONSABILITA LIMITATA
Italy
EU Contribution
€ 236 250
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
United Kingdom
EU Contribution
€ 236 250
EUROPEAN CROWDFUNDING NETWORK
Belgium
EU Contribution
€ 78 750
CHAMBRE DE COMMERCE ET D'INDUSTRIE DE REGION PARIS ILE-DE-FRANCE
France
EU Contribution
€ 60 724,50
INSTITUTO DE ASTROFISICA DE CANARIAS
Spain
EU Contribution
€ 173 260
FORSCHUNGSVERBUND BERLIN EV
Germany
EU Contribution
€ 240 000
UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID
Spain
EU Contribution
€ 248 750
ASOCIACION ESCP EUROPE, ESPANA
Spain
EU Contribution
€ 128 025,50
Project information
STARS4ALL
Grant agreement ID: 688135
-
Start date
1 January 2016
-
End date
31 December 2018
Funded under:
H2020-EU.2.1.1.
-
Overall budget:
€ 1 970 140
-
EU contribution
€ 1 970 140
Shedding light on our need for dark skies
DIGITAL ECONOMY
SOCIETY

More than 80 % of the world’s population lives under light-polluted skies. The Milky Way is hidden from more than one third of humanity. The EU-funded STARS4ALL project set out to put light pollution in the spotlight, raising public awareness and participation with an end goal of shaping new policies. Incubating grassroots light pollution initiatives (LPIs) Other than turning off lights when they are not needed to save electricity, public dialogue regarding light pollution is minimal. As a result, many policies, particularly regarding public lighting, are taking us in the wrong direction. The impacts of light pollution on biodiversity, human health, astronomy, and more will increase in the absence of dedicated campaigns to raise awareness and foster a sense of responsibility. In response to this pressing need, as project coordinator Prof. Oscar Corcho explains, “STARS4ALL has worked on providing the technology and expertise required to incubate local and global LPIs around the world.” In addition to technology, STARS4ALL has provided help for crowdfunding and is providing visibility to small initiatives. The project has grown from 10 LPIs initially to more than 30 active initiatives, far exceeding expectations. STARS4ALL is supporting LPIs in Africa, Australia, Europe, Latin America, New Zealand, and the United States. Some initiatives were already operational. For example, CitiesAtNight monitors global light pollution with images taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Analysis of the images by citizen scientists is providing information above and beyond what is currently available from satellite instruments, particularly regarding changes in the wavelengths or colour of light in our cities. The newly created photometer network LPI has been an amazing success story. Beginning with approximately 100 photometers deployed around the world, the team is now selling the photometers it developed to interested citizens, businesses, and other organisations measuring the quality of their dark nights and sharing data through the STARS4ALL photometer portal. Orders have exceeded expectations and the revenue is sustaining the activities of the consortium for additional light-pollution research and initiatives. In addition to incubating LPIs, STARS4ALL is supporting policy change. Scientists submitted a petition to the European Parliament supporting the need for a European policy regarding light pollution. On a smaller scale, one initiative succeeded in getting the topic in the discussion during recent regional elections in Madrid. Lighting the way STARS4ALL has established the STARS4ALL foundation, now internationally recognised among light pollution researchers. According to Corcho, the non-profit is focused on “ensuring that some of the most relevant results obtained in STARS4ALL (hardware and ICT development, as well as open data production and acquisition) can have a clear sustainability plan for the future.” The STARS4ALL foundation has signed a collaborative agreement with the STARLIGHT foundation, focused on astronomy and the certification of dark sky parks, providing a unified voice for light pollution researchers in dialogues with public authorities. The future is bright for getting light pollution in the public eye along with chemical and physical contamination of earth, seas, and the atmosphere.
Keywords
STARS4ALL, light, pollution, light pollution, photometer, light pollution initiatives (LPIs), policy, policies, astronomy, lighting, data, grassroots
Project information
STARS4ALL
Grant agreement ID: 688135
-
Start date
1 January 2016
-
End date
31 December 2018
Funded under:
H2020-EU.2.1.1.
-
Overall budget:
€ 1 970 140
-
EU contribution
€ 1 970 140
Discover other articles in the same domain of application
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - STARS4ALL (A Collective Awareness Platform for Promoting Dark Skies in Europe)
Reporting period: 2016-01-01 to 2017-06-30
Project information
STARS4ALL
Grant agreement ID: 688135
-
Start date
1 January 2016
-
End date
31 December 2018
Funded under:
H2020-EU.2.1.1.
-
Overall budget:
€ 1 970 140
-
EU contribution
€ 1 970 140
Deliverables
Publications
Datasets
Project information
STARS4ALL
Grant agreement ID: 688135
-
Start date
1 January 2016
-
End date
31 December 2018
Funded under:
H2020-EU.2.1.1.
-
Overall budget:
€ 1 970 140
-
EU contribution
€ 1 970 140
Project information
STARS4ALL
Grant agreement ID: 688135
-
Start date
1 January 2016
-
End date
31 December 2018
Funded under:
H2020-EU.2.1.1.
-
Overall budget:
€ 1 970 140
-
EU contribution
€ 1 970 140