In addition to exciting presentations, the interactive afternoon programme offered a variety of hands-on stations where participants could get active themselves - from practical insights into the measurement technology used to vivid demonstrations on the topic of indoor air and school climate.
Focus on the state of research and expert knowledge: insight into air quality and school climate
The morning started at 10:00 a.m. with a warm welcome from the DIGIdat project team - and immediately got underway with exciting expert contributions. Environmental physician Dr Heinz Fuchsig kicked things off with his impressive presentation "Clear air, clear head". He demonstrated the impact that air pollutants and overheated classrooms have on pupils' concentration and learning behaviour (see picture: Dr Heinz Fuchsig during his presentation).
The DIGIdat team then presented the statistical analyses of the indoor air data collected at ten participating schools. In addition to the presentation of effective measures to improve the indoor climate, the most committed schools in the data collection competition were also honoured - those that had been particularly diligent in collecting CO₂ values and temperature data.
Another highlight was the presentation by Franz Sprecher from the Office for Building Construction of the City of Zurich. He reported on practical findings on school ventilation in new buildings and refurbishments - and highlighted exciting parallels with the results from the DIGIdat project.
The morning concluded with a lively panel discussion entitled "Retrofitting ventilation systems - at any cost?". Representatives from schools, planning offices and public administration discussed the potential and challenges of modern ventilation concepts - for example in terms of costs, user acceptance or listed buildings.
Presentation slides available online
You can find the presentation slides at DIGIdat homepage.
Networking and free lunch
At 12:00 noon, the DIGIdat project invited all guests to a free lunch in the cafeteria and foyer. Over lunch and refreshing drinks, teachers, researchers and stakeholders took the opportunity to share experiences and discuss possible improvement measures. The relaxed atmosphere encouraged dialogue between practice and science.
Interactive afternoon workshop for pupils
The interactive part of the workshop, which was aimed specifically at the participating pupils, opened at 12.30 pm. Under expert guidance, the young people were able to try out various stations on the topic of indoor air quality and carry out their own experiments. The aim was to make scientific principles tangible and promote technical skills.
At a total of eight stations, the participants learnt...
- SenseBox programming
Here, the pupils were given an introduction to programming the SenseBox room air sensor. - 3D printing of small souvenirs
Participants were able to take part in 3D printing and received a small souvenir of the project. - Plastic recycling with shredder and die-casting
New toys were created from old plastic waste. - Bag printing with DIGIdat logos
At this station, the pupils printed cotton bags with the DIGIdat logo and slogans for ventilation. - Laser cutting key rings
Under guidance, the young people made key rings from acrylic and perspex. - Schlieren photography experiments
With the help of a simple schlieren structure, the pupils observed air currents and temperature differences visualised through light refraction - a visual approach to otherwise invisible phenomena. - Experiments with carbon dioxide
Here, pupils were able to conduct small experiments to determine how much CO₂ is emitted through breathing, what CO₂ concentration is produced and what properties (self-produced) CO₂ has. - DIGIdat film corner and school presentation
In a cosy film corner, short documentaries on the course of the project as well as photos and videos of the participating schools were shown.
Open end and outlook
The event officially came to an end at around 2 p.m. - but many participants stayed on to have in-depth discussions or to continue tinkering at the open experiment tables.
DIGIdat not only provided important insights into indoor air quality in existing buildings, but also sensitised pupils to technical and scientific issues.