On March 27th, the III SlowLight Congress took place in the town of Alcalá de Guadaira (Seville, Spain).

SlowLight is an organization that promotes networking focused on the Urban Night and the role of artificial lighting and its environmental and landscape consequences.

This congress is regarded as a benchmark for good practices in the field of outdoor lighting and the design of the nighttime landscape.

On this occasion, together with the Provincial Council of Badajoz, we presented the talk titled “Provincial Network for Night Sky Monitoring in Badajoz,” delivered by Vicente Naranjo (Technical Industrial Engineer in the Department of Ecological Transition), Javier Parra (Principal Investigator of the Life Natura 2000 project and CEO of Alared Innovación Tecnológica, S.L.), and Miquel Serra-Ricart (PhD in Astrophysics and Scientific Director at Light Bridges).

During the presentation, the characteristics of the impact of the photometer network on preserving the night sky were detailed.

The importance of the provincial network of photometers in monitoring and reducing light pollution in the province was highlighted. Extremadura boasts one of the best dark skies in Spain. Although light pollution is low, it does exist. The objective of the photometer network is to carry out continuous measurements to mitigate pollution, preserve pollution-free spaces, and protect the health and well-being of citizens.

The deployment of the photometer network was carried out in order to obtain scientific data to validate the quality of the night sky and to assess the impact of replacing streetlights on light pollution levels in the province. This project has been made possible through collaboration with RED.es as part of the “Province of Badajoz, Smart Tourist Destination” project.

Currently, the network is comprised of 240 photometers, making it the largest photometer network in the world for measuring light pollution. The devices are installed in strategic locations throughout the province, distinguishing between urban and rural areas. This extensive coverage allows for a representative sample of the brightness of the night sky in the province.