“The Unbearable Lightness of Air” : a case of citizen’s management of odorous environment

What does it means for local residents to account publicly for olfactory nuisances in their environment, to share their experiences, and, above all, to render objectivable what could appear, at first glance, as sheer subjectivities? Relying on an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) approach to technical democracy, a Belgian case study where knowledge co-production between citizens, university, and a spin-off enterprise is described and debated. Between the odor emission source (industry, waste disposal,…) and the odor immission realities (reception) there are an heterogeneity of both natural and social factors that render the flux of odorous molecules more or less challenging to trace. This story is about both technical and social traceabilities. This story is about the intimate, but problematic, relations between electronic noses and human lookouts (Vigies), where the identity of impacted residents and the aerial characteristics of the odors are closely related. The very intimate (recalcitrant) trajectories of air causes interesting mode of associations between key protagonists: a change in the protocol of measurements and it’s the nature of the relations between them that is transformed. In terms of governance, the direct involvement of citizens in the odor monitoring in direct collaboration with the industry (odor source) offers a kind of “management of proximity” that contrasts with the more classic mode of regulation by public authorities.