UNIL, UofG and Makerere rethink breathing in a changing world with Exp-Air Lab, powered by CIVIS

With the support of CIVIS Seed Funding for Research, Dr Nolwenn Bühler from UNIL is developing a transdisciplinary approach to respiratory health, combining environmental justice with scientific and technological issues. Driven by a central question - what is breathing properly today, and how? - she has developed a project exploring the challenges of respiratory health in a world in climate crisis.

As an anthropologist of science and technology, Dr Nolwenn Bühler has long been interested in the connections between health, the environment and society. After a thesis on reproductive technologies, followed by a post-doctorate on the links between health and the environment in the context of personalised health, she focused on an area of research that seems as simple as it is essential: breathing.

As part of the CIVIS project, she is working in collaboration with two cities with contrasting ecological and socio-political contexts: Glasgow in Scotland, and Kampala in Uganda, where two other CIVIS Universities, UofG and Makerere, are located. This choice is based on the synergies between universities, researchers and local authorities that is fostered by CIVIS. "Air knows no borders. Working in cities with different histories, in contrasting ecosystems, was essential", she emphasises.

A project combining research, fieldwork and collaboration

A workshop organised at Makerere University (Kampala), brought together experts from a variety of disciplines - medicine, statistics, social sciences - as well as representatives from the world of politics, associations and the environment. Together, they mapped local initiatives, identified research needs and explored concrete avenues for action.

Following this meeting, field visits were organised. These enabled Nolwenn Bühler and her colleague from Glasgow, Craig Anderson, to talk to engineers developing 3D-printed fine particle sensors, and to discover digital tools for monitoring air quality in real time. But for Nolwenn Bühler, the issue goes beyond technology:

What interests me is what happens to this data. Who produces it, what exactly is being measured, how it circulates and what stories it tells about pollution and health", says Dr Nolwenn Bühler.

A boost at a key career moment

For Dr Bühler, CIVIS's support provided the boost needed to structure an ambitious research project and enhance its relevance. The researcher also highlights the truly human aspect of this adventure:

I was impressed by the organisation of the team there, the richness of the exchanges and the openness. That's what CIVIS is all about: an alliance that supports researchers at every stage of their journey. This type of funding increases the credibility of a project. It shows that you've already established contacts, that you're rooted in the field. And personally, it gave me the confidence and motivation I needed at a time when I was sometimes discouraged", emphasised Bühler.

The Seed Funding for research Call is open until 31 May 2025.

Find out more about Dr. Bühler's project from the original story, in French, written by Solenne Piaget-Rossel.

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