To celebrate our video activity with older people in the Aveiro Region in 2018/19, we organised a lunch with some very special guests. The President of the region (CIRA), José Ribau Esteves, along with the President of Albergaria-a-Velha Municipality, António Loureiro, had lunch with our winning video entrant, José Seixas and his wife Maria. Olga Cravo from the ClairCity project also joined the lunch, held at the “Mercado do Peixe” restaurant at the end of April 2019.
Mr Seixas, a resident of Albergaria-a-Velha, is involved in the Idade Maior Program which was how he had come to get involved in the ClairCity video project. The Idade Maior program is an initiative of the Municipality of Albergaria-a-Velha, working with people aged 55 or over. The program aims to promote new discoveries and healthy lifestyles, and value lifelong learning and the capacities, skills, knowledge and culture of older age groups. The activities are selected to increase the self-esteem and self-confidence of seniors and promote social opportunities and the exchange of experiences.
On 17th April 2019 we held our Stakeholder Dialogue Workshop in Sosnowiec, Poland.
This was an opportunity for local organisations to see the summary of results from our citizen engagement, and give input on the relative opportunities and priorities they saw for the city. Participants explored the variety of pathways chosen by citizens through our surveys, game and workshops. They could advise on what they considered to be acceptable consensus of low carbon, clean air pathways in the short-medium and long term to 2050.
The activities in the Stakeholder Dialogue Workshop generate agreed scenarios (combinations of policies that have been suggested and supported by citizens) which the ClairCity quantification team then model. The quantitative modelling tests which scenarios give the best outcomes in terms of achieving clean air and a low carbon future for the city.
We thank all of the participants of the workshop in Sosnowiec for their support and input. The event was productive and successful and we learnt a lot from their participation.
Wilt u een schonere lucht in Amsterdam en tegelijk een fijnere en betere leefomgeving bij u in de buurt? Heeft u ideeën over hoe dat zou kunnen of moeten?
Dan willen wij u graag uitnodigen voor de bijeenkomst ‘Samen werken aan maatregelen voor schone lucht en een fijnere leefomgeving in Amsterdam’, die wij op 23 januari organiseren in het kader van het Europese luchtkwaliteit onderzoeksproject ClairCity (http://www.claircity.eu).
Vanuit je ervaring als Amsterdammer (geen voorbereiding of specifieke kennis nodig) vragen we om in discussie te gaan over concrete maatregelen voor schone lucht. Hoe streng moeten die maatregelen zijn? En wanneer zouden ze in moeten gaan? Samen met de andere deelnemers maakt u scenario’s voor een fijnere stad.
Met de resultaten uit de bijeenkomst gaan de modelleurs van ClairCity vervolgens aan het rekenen. Ze rekenen uit wat het effect is van de gekozen maatregelen op de luchtkwaliteit in Amsterdam. De scenario’s en hun effecten zullen vervolgens aan beleidsmakers in de stad worden voorgelegd.
Datum:
Woensdag, 23 januari 2019
Tijd:
9:30 – 12:30 (ontvangst 9:15)
Locatie:
GGD, Nieuwe Achtergracht 100, Amsterdam
De workshop is gratis. Inschrijven kan door een mail te sturen naar claircity@trinomics.eu of te bellen naar 010 341 4592). Er is een beperkt aantal beschikbare plaatsen, schrijft u zich daarom zo snel mogelijk in.
Voor de workshop is geen voorbereiding of specifieke kennis nodig. Iedere mening telt mee! Aan het begin van de workshop geven we een korte presentatie over de huidige luchtkwaliteit en het beleid in Amsterdam en leggen we uit hoe we de scenario’s gaan maken.
Kent u meer mensen die geïnteresseerd zijn in een betere luchtkwaliteit en een betere leefomgeving in Amsterdam? Stuurt u dan deze uitnodiging door via email en/of sociale media (het evenement op Facebook vind je via deze link).
Our ClairCity Skylines game is hitting the news and generating local interest across the city. Last week, Thangam Debbonaire MP (Bristol West) got to enjoy the game as part of the “Creative Reactions” exhibition in Hamilton House, Bristol.
Thangam has been raising issues of air quality in her constituency, and was keen to see new ways to get more people to engage with the issue and understand the challenges – and opportunities – that tackling air pollution can bring.
Within the exhibition there is also a piece inspired by the ClairCity project, made by local artist Laura Howarth. We talked to Laura about the health impacts of air pollution, especially on hearts and lungs. Her final pieces for the exhibition were references to the damage done to lung tissue from diesel emissions. All of the work in the exhibition is inspired by cutting edge research taking place in Bristol, interpreted through the work of over 30 local artists. Creative Reactions is on show until 22nd May 2018 as part of the Pint of Science festival.
You can download and play ClairCity Skylines yourself from bit.ly/PlayBristol
The ClairCity annual conference 2018 took place in our partner city of Sosnowiec, Poland on 25th April 2018.
It was attended by a range of local, national and international organisations and interested participants, as well as our ClairCity team and External Advisory Board members. The day was split into four sections, covering different issues.
European and international experiences
The (re)emerging problem of solid fuel use and PM emissions in Bristol and the UK (Bristol City Council) Andy Edwards
Pro-environmental behavioural change: Role of personalised informational intervention (iSCAPE project) Muhammad Adnan
Integrated air pollution management in Delhi city (Indian Institute of Technology) Mukesh Khare Residential wood combustion in the Nordic area (NILU) Susana Lopez-Aparicio
ClairCity project presentations
The ClairCity process – bringing the evidence together & ClairCity Skylines app. Enda Hayes (NO GIFs)
GreenANTS app. Mirjam Fredriksen
Delphi process and citizen voice. Jim Longhurst
Modelling behaviour in heating and transport. Kris Vanherle
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Our local contacts in Sosnowiec made this short report about the event.
The ClairCity Skylines team with Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees
As part of the launch of ClairCity Skylines, the free game available for download on Android and iOS devices from ClairCity, Bristol’s Mayor Marvin Rees was one of the first players of the game. Alongside UWE Bristol students, he attended the game launch event in The Foundry space at UWE Bristol to test the game and talk with journalists.
Mayor Marvin Rees plays ClairCity Skylines with UWE students
Marvin said: “The ClairCity project’s new game is an exciting and different way of getting people involved in the conversation about air quality. This is a massive issue facing Bristol with our residents and visitors at risk from unacceptable levels of pollution.
“We are working hard to tackle the issue but we need everyone to work together and be aware of what we can all do to contribute to making a positive change. As well as being entertaining, this game will also provide us with an alternative insight into what people might like to see happening in our city to make it a healthier place.”
Si è svolto Martedì 27 Marzo 2018 presso la sede della Regione Liguria il Mutual learning workshop del progetto ClairCity. Il Workshop ha coinvolto i differenti portatori di interesse (stakeholders) coinvolti nelle problematiche e nelle politiche ambientali e della salute. Una trentina di partecipanti hanno condiviso le loro visioni sui fattori di rischio allo stato attuale e in scenari futuri a differente scala temporale (2020-2030-2050)
Si è svolto Giovedì 22 Febbraio un workshop del progetto ClairCity con un gruppo molto motivato di cittadini genovesi al fine di discutere i risultati del secondo questionario. In particolare l’attenzione è stata dedicata alle misure per ridurre l’inquinamento atmosferico e migliorare l’impronta di carbonio. Alcuni tavoli di lavoro hanno discusso sulle idee e sulle proposte che sono emerse dalle risposte ai questionari ed hanno fornito utili indicazioni da riportare ai decisori.
Bristol’s mutual learning workshop was designed for different stakeholders who are engaged in environment, health issues and policies in the city. It took place in July 2017, and was aimed at developing routes to a “clean air”, healthy, zero-carbon Bristol by 2050 by understanding specific challenges and opportunities for organisations, and engaging them to identify actions, milestones and priorities.
Attendees included a range of organisations, from First Bus, community groups such as Ambition Lawrence Weston and Easton Energy Group, local councillors in South Gloucestershire and Bristol, Bristol Walking Alliance, Residents Against Dirty Energy (RADE), At-Bristol, local employers, Bristol Health Partnership and NHS representatives, energy experts, academics from UWE and the University of Bristol. Though the business sector was underrepresented at the workshop, participants from this sector identified their strategies around increasing the efficiency of their fleets and reducing waste.
The keynote speaker presentations are available to watch on Youtube.
Overall the workshop had a positive atmosphere. Participants were happy to be involved and mutually learn about and discuss air pollution, health and carbon reduction. Feedback from participants was largely positive, highlighting in particular the opportunity to talk to people they wouldn’t normally talk to. A minority of feedback suggests there should have been a bigger focus on actions but the workshop was still felt to be positive from a “getting everyone in the same room” view point.
Discussion points
Each participant was asked to share their organisation’s current actions towards air quality and reducing carbon emissions, and to suggest their vision for a “clean air” healthy zero-carbon Bristol related to their organisation. Then participants identified challenges and barriers to change. The challenges and barriers they identified can broadly be categorised as: political; business/market; housing; citizen challenges; cultural; housing.
In the political category, many comments identified lack of government funding or government inaction as barriers along with “short-termism” and business as usual approaches. Challenges for citizens were noted around a lack of options in terms of the “school run”, flexible working hours and access to public transport. In terms of culture, ignorance of evidence and acceptance and social expectations around the conflict between sustainability and current travel behaviours were raised. Transport challenges and barriers focussed on the lack of a quality alternative to car use and the inefficiencies of public transport. For housing affordable and efficient housing for a growing population was highlighted. Business/market challenges identified the need to think about alternatives to government spending to pay for training and new technologies.
Actions and milestones
Actions, milestones and priorities were devised in four separate groups. Group discussions led to different actions and different areas of focus:
One group developed a timeline from 2020 to 2050 focused on moving to a clean air Bristol by promoting and enabling electric vehicles, developing joint spatial plans for 2030 to 2040 and then focussing on the different types of social, political and planning action that would be needed.
A second group focussed more on the political, social and community changes needed over the time scale, prioritising increased community, bottom-up approaches, collaborative partnerships and a change to the electoral and democratic governance of the UK to proportional representation and devolution.
A third group focussed on the actions needed in the short term by the City Council such as reporting and funding a clean air zone, improving transport links to South Bristol, challenging the decision-making process of the council, changing the procurement process and making public transport more affordable.
The final group also focussed on planning policy locally, the need for a spatial plan to focus on air pollution, address diesel generation, a comprehensive bus strategy and Clean Air Zone and delivering a mechanism to raise investment. They also considered the role of the housing stock and the need to make all homes energy efficient.
Conclusions
Overall the Bristol mutual learning workshop successfully engaged with a variety of stakeholders from different sectors and organisations.
In Bristol, clean air and air pollution are largely linked to the transport sector – both in people’s minds and in reality. The need for better transport and infrastructure planning in Bristol is clearly identified and links to improved housing and better connectedness across the city. Spatial plans need to be adequately supported by effective social planning that considers health impacts, and also requires political leadership and action.
The wide representation of civil and civil society organisations led to the identification of social and cultural barriers to change, but also opportunities and potential policy actions to increase bottom-up community and citizen engagement in local governance and decision making – something the ClairCity project aims to do.
A challenge of the workshop was supporting the groups to turn their attention to definite “actions” in the scenario session at the end. Though political short-termism was identified as a barrier by stakeholders, the groups’ pathways from 2020 to 2050 were largely short-term (apart from one group) when it came to setting actions and milestones beyond the next five years.
This highlights the difficulties scientists, policy makers, industry and civil/civic society organisations all have in visualising potential transformative actions that go beyond the systems already in place. Future workshops could seek to address this by spending more time on pathway development and less on barriers.
