Air pollution is one of the world’s greatest environmental threats to public health. In Asunción, Paraguay, where pollution levels are increasing year after year, there is an urgent need for initiatives to tackle this problem. Project Respira, funded by the Mozilla Foundation as part of the Open-Source AI for Environmental Justice Award 2024, is presented as the first air quality prediction service for the city of Asunción and its surroundings. This initiative is an example of how free technology, open data and collaboration can provide innovative solutions to critical problems related to climate change and environmental justice.
What is Project Respira?
Project Respira is a pioneering initiative that aims to provide air quality forecasts for the Greater Asunción area. The project was designed to empower citizens by providing not only forecasts, but also health recommendations tailored to the local context, allowing them to make informed decisions to protect their health on days when air quality is compromised. From planning outdoor activities to avoiding exposure during periods of high pollution, this service represents a crucial step towards reducing the health risks associated with pollution through open information and citizen education.
The system includes a web platform and integrated bots in Telegram and X (Twitter) for easy access to the services. Features include daily air quality forecasts, guidance on how to protect your health based on pollution levels, statistics generated from sensors distributed across the city, and access to relevant research. In addition, the project’s open repositories on GitHub allow others to replicate and adapt the system in different contexts.
Open source forecasting in response to climate change impacts
Climate change has exacerbated environmental problems in Paraguay, creating increasingly urgent challenges. Pollution levels have increased in recent years, driven by forest fires, extreme weather events and urban sprawl. One example was in September 2024, when a thick layer of smoke covered the country for weeks as a result of fires in northern Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil. This phenomenon caused respiratory problems for thousands of people and reignited the debate on the need for tools to anticipate and mitigate the risks associated with pollution.
Against this backdrop, Project Respira emerges as an effective and practical response, developed by the community and for the community. This system not only provides a predictive tool for air quality, but also reflects how citizen organisation and open technology can be used to address the challenges of climate change.
The initiative focuses on the principles of environmental justice, ensuring that benefits reach the most vulnerable. At the same time, it builds the capacity of communities and authorities to respond to environmental emergencies. Phenomena such as forest fires and air pollution, which are becoming increasingly common in South America, underscore the importance of projects like this to protect public health and build resilient communities in the face of climate challenges.
An initiative of civil society, academia and the open source community
Project Respira is the result of an important collaboration between civil society, academia and the open source community in Paraguay. The Faculty of Engineering of the National University of Asunción has been a key pillar, providing not only infrastructure and technical knowledge, but also access to open data essential for the operation of the system. A crucial aspect of this effort has been the active participation of the Paraguayan open source community, especially through the organisation Girls Code Paraguay, an initiative led by women in technology that has been instrumental in the development and implementation of innovative solutions. Their commitment and experience have made the project not only viable, but also replicable and scalable in different contexts.
The design of the system follows open technology principles, meaning that its components are adaptable and can be implemented by other regions, both within Paraguay and in other countries. Although in its early stages the project is focused on the Greater Asunción area, it is designed to provide regional forecasts in the near future, expanding its scope and benefiting more communities.
Open data, artificial intelligence and technological innovation in the context of the Global South
The success of Project Respira is largely due to access to open data and the use of advanced Machine Learning models. Predicting pollution levels requires not only pollutant measurements, but also accurate meteorological data to help model the dynamics of pollutant movement through the city. Pollution level measurements from the PM2.5 Particulate Matter Monitoring Network of the Faculty of Engineering of the National University of Asunción are combined with climate data from Meteostat, a global service that provides historical and current meteorological information.
A second innovative aspect of the project lies in the development of strategies to improve the quality of data from field instruments. A major challenge in collecting pollution and climate data in the Latin American context is the need for regular calibration of measuring instruments, which lose reliability over time due to wear and tear on the instruments. This leads to operating and maintenance costs that are difficult to sustain over time.
Project Respira, in collaboration with researchers from the National University of Asunción, is using an innovative remote calibration system for its low-cost sensors, using data from the US Embassy’s AirNow system in Paraguay. Remote calibration is a solution that significantly improves the reliability of the data collected by the sensors. This solution allows low-cost sensors to be installed at numerous points around the city and remotely calibrated on a regular basis using a single high-end sensor as the standard, significantly reducing operation and maintenance costs. This is critical in contexts where resources are limited, such as in many Latin American cities. The approach is also replicable, allowing other regions to implement similar solutions tailored to their needs.
A model for the future
Although Project Respira is in its early stages and is currently limited to the greater Asunción area, its modular and open design allows for a future in which this service can be expanded throughout Paraguay and eventually replicated in other regions of the world. This approach demonstrates the potential of collaboration between academia, civil society and the open source community as an effective model for addressing complex environmental problems.
The project also highlights the importance of open data in the fight against climate change. Thanks to the availability of high-quality data from a variety of sources, it is possible to build predictive models that are not only effective, but also accessible and easily reproducible. This approach reinforces the need to promote open data policies that facilitate innovation and allow other similar initiatives to develop, adapted to the local specificities of each region.
In a world increasingly affected by climate change, initiatives like Project Breathe play a critical role in protecting public health, empowering communities and building a more resilient future. By combining advanced technology, open data and interdisciplinary collaboration, this project sets a precedent for how environmental challenges can be tackled now and in the future.
