EFA and Allergy UK attended the First Stakeholder Workshop of the Urban Partnership for Air Quality , that took place at London’s City Hall 13 June.
The Urban partnership for Air Quality is one of the 12 partnerships created to build the Urban Agenda for the EU, an integrated and coordinated approach to deal with the urban dimension of the EU and national policies and legislation. These partnerships’ main objective is to define concrete priority themes to improve the quality of life in urban areas.
Carla Jones, EFA Board Member and CEO of Allergy UK was one of the 60 stakeholders from all over Europe who participated.
The workshop focused on outdoor pollution and the challenges it poses to people and cities, such as the f PM (particulate matter) levels, the transport and the difficulties to reduce worrying levels of pollution. One of the main obstacles that came up during the event was the topical and current issue about the countries that are still not compliant and committed to current EU legal levels.
Disobedience and pollution levels quickly have a link with worsening health: the main consequence of living everyday within polluted environments. As a result of the discussion, it was agreed that the way we tackle air pollution needs innovative plans forward.
Carla Jones pointed out that urban planning can affect pollen levels and suggested to “take into consideration the type of plants to plant, for example, in order not to make decisions which tackle pollution but have a negative impact on health”.
So farallergy and respiratory diseases have not been included in the scope for the Urban Partnership for Air Quality and as a consequence, not in the Urban Agenda for the European Union either, but it is now genuinely considered.
The exchange between partnerships is expected to pave the way in the following weeks to the launch of a public survey focusing on the draft actions and recommendations that the Urban Partnership on Air Quality is developing to improve legislation, access to funding and knowledge in the area of air quality.
The 12 Partnerships are Inclusion of Migrants and Refugees, Air Quality, Housing and Urban Poverty. Four others started their work in February 2017 on Circular Economy, Digital Transition, Urban Mobility and Jobs and Skills in the Local Economy Also poverty and housing have major impact in respiratory disease in addition to air quality, and mobility is a key issue for many patients, including COPD.
Participants included representatives from the industry, academia, associations, networks, project practitioners, cities, member states, European programmes and initiatives, and the European Commission.
See our work on air quality and pollen.