Air Quality Awareness Project

We are looking for Air Quality Champions for our DEFRA funded air quality awareness project! (Sign up button below)

The project, which received funding from the DEFRA Air Quality Grant (DAQG) in 2021/22, aims to increase knowledge and awareness of air quality matters and how individuals can reduce their exposure to air pollution.

Several people have already been supporting the project over the past few months to develop an interactive web tool. Work is ongoing (see below) and we are aiming to launch the tool in late summer to help us communicate information about air quality.

How can you help now?

As the project moves into its next stages, we now have new opportunities for getting involved. We are therefore contacting all those who expressed an initial interest in becoming Air Quality Champions.

Air Quality Champions

One of the project's key objectives is to ensure that communications around air quality are accessible to all and to raise awareness of the specific actions we can take as individuals to reduce our exposure to air pollution.

We are looking for passionate and enthusiastic individuals from across the Tower Hamlets community to get involved. No prior experience is needed, and the project team will provide training, resources and support. Air Quality Champions will help to disseminate information on air quality and practical solutions to the broader community - particularly, though not exclusively targeted at those who may be either excluded from current information campaigns, or most affected by the impacts of air pollution.

Air Quality Champions may include individuals in the community that are well connected or have an influence over others, or those with a drive to improve the health and wellbeing of themselves or their communities. The most important thing however is that our Air Quality Champions have a passion for helping others and an interest in improving local air quality.

To kickstart this exciting phase of the project, we will be undertaking 2 training sessions for volunteers. The first session will provide a comprehensive understanding of the key aspects of air pollution, associated health impacts and how to control exposure. Several training times are being offered for the first training session.

The second training session will follow in June and will include information specific to what the London borough of Tower Hamlets is doing to measure and improve air quality and regarding our policies and ambition.

Testing the interactive web tool

Another of the aims of the project included the development of an interactive webtool.

A number of you have already been involved in the co-design of this tool, which will be used to visually communicate information on air quality in key locations around Tower Hamlets. Your feedback has been very valuable to the development team who are now working to incorporate your suggestions and ideas into the final product to ensure that it works for you and the community.

A fully accessible beta version of the webtool will be available for testing in July. We are looking for a few volunteers, NOT previously involved with the development of the tool to help us test it in due course.

Sign up below!

Please sign up using the button below or alternatively get in touch with us by email at Isabella.luke@towerhamlets.gov.uk if you are interested in becoming an Air Quality Champion, a web-tool tester, or if you think you may be able to support the project in any other way.

We look forward to hearing from you!