PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
According to 2010-11 data from the World Health Organisation, 19 Polish cities are among the 100 cities with the worst particulate matter (PM10) air pollution. On average, they exceed limit values for PM10 and have very high levels of fine particulates (PM2.5) on 60-70 days per year. During the summer high ozone concentrations are recorded. Poor air quality causes up to 40 000 premature deaths per year in Poland (EEA, 2016), including 900 in the city of Wrocaw. It also increases the incidence of chronic bronchitis in adults and bronchitis in children by 32% and 23% respectively. This affects quality of life, costs money, reduces productivity and increases sickness-relatedabsence at work. There is growing awareness among policymakers in Poland of the impact of air pollution with a number of actions taking place at the national (Clean Air programme), regional (Air Quality Management Plans), and local level (city of Krakow). Effective implementation of environmental policies and laws requires general public acceptance based on well-established knowledge of the sources of pollution and their environmental and health impacts. However, surveys indicate that citizens' awareness of air quality is still low, with more than 50% of people seeing no connection between air quality and health and only 10% identifying burning coal as a pollution source.
OBJECTIVES
To tackle the issues outlined, the LIFE-MAPPINGAIR/PL project will carry out a broad information and awareness-raising campaign linking air quality forecasts, expanded monitoring, and modern methods of education. It will build on the work of the earlier project, LIFE-APIS/PL, adding new awareness raising and information tools. The project will educate citizens about air quality in urban areas, focusing on the types and scale of threats, how to reduce the problem, health advice, the law on air quality etc. It will develop an online educational platform for air quality in the regions of Lower Silesia and Kuyavia. This will include original scholastic materials and will be based on the MOOC (massive open online courses) format. Expected results: