Development of a Citizen-participatory Carbon Challenge Platform Based on the Carbon Spatial Information System

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a design and integration framework for transforming South Korea’s Carbon Spatial Information System into a citizen-participatory geospatial platform, referred to as the Carbon Challenge Platform. Unlike existing carbon tracking services that mainly emphasize individuals' behavioral change through mobile applications or gamification, the proposed platform integrates geospatial carbon datasets with real-time sensor inputs and policy feedback mechanisms to enable localized and participatory climate action. In particular, the platform leverages sensors such as energy meters, mobility trackers, and environmental Internet of Things devices (e.g., CO2 and temperature sensors) to provide real-time, detailed data for carbon footprint estimation. The system is designed around a layered architecture and ten core functions, supported by a modular data/Application Programming Interface (API)/sensor integration framework that links national geospatial datasets with third-party APIs, IoT devices, and policy databases. To ensure reliability, preprocessing techniques such as normalization, noise filtering, and temporal alignment are applied to handle sensor data variability and time-series resolution. From a citizen’s perspective, the platform offers several anticipated benefits, including increased awareness of personal carbon impacts, motivation for sustainable behavior, and access to personalized feedback, thereby fostering proactive engagement in local climate initiatives. Beyond individual engagement, the aggregated data can guide municipal policy, strengthening participatory climate governance. The model thus provides a scalable and transferable template for climate-responsive digital governance. Future work will focus on pilot testing, refinement of spatial emission modeling, and alignment with international standards such as ISO 14068 and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) frameworks to ensure global interoperability and long-term policy integration.