Jo invited to speak to global BBC reporters at New Broadcasting House

Jo has been invited by the BBC World Service to advise on air pollution and showcase AQMRC's research to a global audience of reporters at New Broadcasting House on Monday 5th December. She will be joining representatives from the World Health Organization, C40 and ClientEarth as part of the new Solutions-Focussed Journalism project at BBC News – tagged ‘So I can breathe’ - which is due to be launched next March. As the name suggests, the project is interested in the success stories that can be reported so that lessons can be learnt elsewhere. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate the impact of AQMRC's research and to put UWE more firmly on the global map with regards air quality research.

Jo speaking at Better Places and Parking World 2016

Jo spoke at the Better Places and Parking World 2016 conference at the Kia Oval in London yesterday. The event, which was organised by Landor LINKS, was attended by a broad range of professionals all seeking to improve urban design and the impact of road traffic. Jo's presentation, entitled "Beyond nudge and improving transport infrastructure: the real task of tackling poor air quality", led the 'Improving Air Quality' session, and discussed the role of social practice theory in understanding how emissions are generated and by whom, contextualized with examples from the EPSRC-funded projects, Disruption and MOT, and the new H2020 project, ClairCity. The novel approach presented was perhaps a challenge to traditional thinking on air quality and transport management and was met with a lot of interest from the diverse, and largely receptive, audience.

New paper on active school travel from TIm

Tim has just had a new paper published on active school travel in the Journal of Transport and Health.  The work was led by Sara Ahern at Bradford Institute of Health Research and involved colleagues from Newcastle University, Imperial College and the University of Leeds.  The paper was based around the application of a Theoretical Domains Framework, to understanding the challenges around active school travel (AST) in the West Yorkshire region.  The paper found that capacity for active travel to school was often compromised by the need for parents to combine the journey with other activities (particularly the commute to work) as was identified in other work such as Tim’s recent EPSRC funded Disruption project (www.fleximobility.solutions). Similarly, structural interventions such as better spatial planning and the making of school environments more AST friendly were seen to be necessary to developing a coordinated approach to encouraging more sustainable school travel.

Ahern, S.M., Arnott, B., Chatterton, T., de Nazelle, A., Kellar, I. and McEachan, R. (2016), Understanding parents' school travel choices: A qualitative study using the Theoretical Domains Framework. Journal of Transport & Health  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2016.11.001i  

Abstract

Traffic related air pollution is detrimental to health and creates a substantial attributable mortality burden. It is suggested that a shift from motorised transport to active forms of travel will therefore have significant health benefits. Currently 46% of school journeys for primary aged children are made by car and this figure has risen steadily. Understanding barriers to active school travel (AST) is an important first step in developing behavioural interventions to increase active travel. The purpose of this study was to explore parents’ experiences of school travel and their choices regarding travel mode with a focus on identifying barriers and facilitators to AST.

Twenty parents of primary school children (4–12 years) in the West Yorkshire region took part in semi-structured interviews regarding school travel, informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework. Framework Analysis was used to identify key themes in the data and to develop a comprehensive picture of parents' experiences of school travel at both individual and structural levels.

Distance was the biggest barrier to AST. Time constraints were reported as the main barrier to parents accompanying children in AST, while concerns about safety deterred parents from allowing children to travel independently. The need to incorporate multiple jouneys, such as the work commute and/or multiple school drop-offs, placed demands on parents' time, while difficulty getting children into local schools meant further to travel for a number of parents. Findings suggest that interventions to promote AST may be particularly effective if tailored towards working parents. However, also addressing factors such as distance to school and school travel at a policy level may produce more significant shifts in behaviour.

 

AQMRC in Amsterdam

Enda, Jo, Tim and Corra are all in Amsterdam for a two day ClairCity workshop (http://www.claircity.eu/). The workshop brings together project partners, advisory board members and other interested stakeholders (including Amsterdam policymakers, the national government, research institutes and city citizens) to discuss the air quality, carbon and health challenges that the city faces and how ClairCity can orientated its research to engage citizens in forming solutions.

Jo on the BBC national news

Air quality made the national news today (2nd November 2016) following the announcement of the High Court ruling supporting ClientEarth's case against Defra's Air Quality Plan. Mr Justice Garnham agreed with ClientEarth that the Environment Secretary had failed to take measures that would bring the UK into compliance with the law “as soon as possible” and said that ministers knew that over optimistic pollution modelling was being used. In an interview for the BBC News at Ten and Radio 4 evening news AQMRC's Dr Jo Barnes highlighted the impact that this ruling could have for public health if Defra are required to rewrite the Plan: "This is, hopefully, going to affect the potential health impacts for thousands, tens of thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people and, potentially, save lives ultimately."

AQMRC, UWE win NERC-MRC-MoES bid to work in India

AQMRC, UWE, in conjunction with Newcastle University, have just been awarded funding by the National Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Medical Research Council (MRC) to undertake one of five short-listed research projects in Delhi, India. The four-year project 'CADTIME: Clean Air for Delhi Through Interventions, Mitigations and Engagement' is in response to a Newton Bhabha call 'Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health in an Indian Megacity'. It is a really exciting opportunity to work with colleagues from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Delhi and Bombay, the Central Road Research Institute and the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute in India. The aim of the project is to understand what needs to be done to mitigate air pollution from a range of sources in what has been cited by the World Health Organization as the second-most polluted major city in the world (2016). Ultimately the project aims to reduce the impacts of air pollution on human health, reducing the number of deaths and improving quality of life for Delhi's inhabitants.

Tim involved in workshop at Bristol Leadership Festival

On Friday 18^th November, Tim will be involved in running a workshop on behaviour at the Bristol Leadership Festival with Fiona Spotswood (editor of 'Beyond Behaviour Change: Interdisciplinary approaches and future directions’ ), John Bromley (Director of The National Social Marketing Centre), Naomi Brook (Lifestyles Project Manager, Coventry City Council,), Andrew Darnton (author of The ISM Tool, A D Research) and Natalie Horne (Director of Prime-Decision behavioural insight consultancy) 

 

http://www.festivalofleadership.org/friday/4592977023

 

 

 

Tim speaks at Routes to Clean Air 2

Tim was invited to present the groups work on “Putting People at the Heart of Air Quality Management” at the recent IAQM Routes to Clean Air 2 conference.

The invitation was as a last minute replacement for Professor Frank Kelly who had to pull out at the last moment.

http://iaqm.co.uk/event/routes-to-clean-air-2016/

 

Ben and Jim pen an air polution blog for Healthy Cities Week

As part of Bristol Green Capital’s Healthy Cities Week, Ben and Jim penned a blog piece discussing air pollution progress over the last 60 years.

 

The blog piece and other articles can be found here: http://bristolgreencapital.org/air-pollution-a-global-crisis-or-a-problem-solved/ and here: http://bristolgreencapital.org/

 

 

 

 

 

 

The AQMRC out in force at RTCA 2

The AQMRC were out in force at the Routes to Clean Air Conference, held in The Grand Hotel Bristol on the 11^th and 12^th of October, with Jim, Tim, Jo, Ben and Emily in attendance.

 

Contributions were given from Jim Longhurst and Tim Chatterton on the first day. Jim discussed what has been achieved since the Clean Air Act of 1956, and Tim spoke on air pollution, exposure inequality and future research through the Clair-City project. Jim also chaired a number of sessions over both days. Other talks focused on health impacts, emissions monitoring and modelling and local solutions to the air pollution crisis.

 

The conference was considered a great success and we look forward to Routes to Clean Air 3 next year!

 

 

 

New Publications from AQMRC

The Proceedings of the 24^th Conference Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution held in Crete are now available.   The Proceedings are co-edited by Jim Longhurst, Carlos Brebbia and Jo Barnes and are available from WIT Press: Longhurst, J.W.S.,    Brebbia, C.A.  & Barnes, J.H. (Editors, 2016)   Air Pollution XXIV. WIT Press, Southampton and Boston. pp280,  ISBN: 978-1-78466-129-8

 

Selected papers from the 24^th Conference have been published in a Special issue of the International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning edited by Jim Longhurst and Carlos Brebbia: Longhurst J.W.S. & Brebbia, C.A (2016, editors) Special Issue: Air Pollution.  International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning 11 (4) pp157 ISSN 1743-7601

 

The special issue includes the Key Note conference paper authored by AQMRC staff: Longhurst, J.W.S.,   Barnes, J.H.,   Chatterton, T.J., Hayes, E.T.,   &   Williams, B.  (2016) Progress with Air Quality Management in the 60 years since the UK Clean Air Act, 1956. Lessons, failures, challenges and opportunities.  International Journal of Sustainable Development & Planning.       11 (4) 491–499

 

Other publications from the Air Pollution Conference are also available through the AQMRC Research Repository and several are shown below.

 

Williams, B., Barnes, J., Chatterton, T., Hayes, E. T. and Longhurst, J. (2016) A critical review of the robustness of the UK government’s air quality plan and expected compliance dates. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 207. pp. 1-9. ISSN 1743-3541 Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/28958

 

Chatterton, T. and Barnes, J. (2016) A social and spatial analysis of emissions from private vehicle use in Great Britain. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, 207. pp. 99-110. ISSN 1743-3541 Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/28883

 

Barnes, J. and Chatterton, T. (2016) An environmental justice analysis of exposure to traffic-related pollutants in England and Wales. In: Air Pollution XXIV, Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution, Greece, 20-22 June 2016, Crete, Greece, 20-22 June 2016. Southampton, UK: Wessex Institute of Technology Press Available from: http://eprints.uwe.ac.uk/28882

 

 

 

Jim to present at the Routes To Clean Air Conference

Jim Longhurst will be reviewing progress in air quality management since the Clean Air Act of 1956 at the Routes to Clean Air conference organised by IAQM and the IES and being held in Bristol on October 11-12, 2016. Full details are available at http://iaqm.co.uk/event/routes-to-clean-air-2016/   The AQMRC team have helped with the local organisation and will be chairing a session at the event.

 

 

 

Jo interviewed for Made in Bristol #BristolNews

Jo will be featuring in an interview on Bristol News on Made in Bristol TV tonight at 6pm and 9pm https://www.madeinbristol.tv/programme/bristolnews/. The feature focuses on air pollution in Bristol following the publication of a new WHO report last month http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2016/air-pollution-estimates/en/.

Enda invited to Brussels to explore synergies among EU funded projects

Enda has been invited to two workshops in Brussel on 11^th October to explore methods to enhance synergies among EU funded Research and Innovation projects related to air quality and carbon footprint in cities. Representing the ClairCity consortium (www.claircity.eu), the morning workshop will allow Enda to introduce the project to the Partnership on Air Quality (PAQ) of the Urban Agenda of the EU (http://urbanagendaforthe.eu/partnerships/air-quality/) as part of the European Week of Regions and Cities. The afternoon workshop will bring the three Horizon 2020 funded projects (ClairCity, ICARUS and iSCAPE) together with EASME to explore opportunities for collaboration.

 

Enda and Ben attend bioaerosol workshop

Enda and Ben attended a NERC/DSTL workshop in Cranfield University (30^th September) which brings the ENDOTOXII and RAMBIE projects together to explore synergies and collaboration opportunities. Ben presented on the dispersion modelling elements of the ENDOTOXII project while Enda introduced the basis of the ENDOTOXII analytical framework which will be developed with Cranfield to assess the SIBS and other datasets.

HEFCE reports on Interdisciplinary Research

Tim was recently interviewed as part of some HEFCE study into Interdisciplinary research in the U.K.  Two reports from the research have now been published on the HEFCE website.

http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/rereports/Year/2016/interdis/Title,110229,en.html

TIm invited to Dutch Government/European Commission workshop on Sustainable Mobility Behaviours

On 27-28th September, Tim will be an invited participant at a work shop hosted by the Cutch government and European Commission on 'Behaviour in Sustainable Mobility and Logistics'

http://www.nwo.nl/en/about-nwo/organisation/nwo-divisions/magw/captain+for+one+day

TIm presents at Public Health England conference

On Monday, Tim presented work resulting from the Disruption (www.fleximobility.solutions), MOT (www.MOTproject.net) and ClairCity (www.ClairCity.eu) projects on 'Putting people at the heart of the air quality problem’.  The presentation described a range of work being done by AQMRC to allow the development of approaches to air quality management that learn more from the social sciences.

More information on the event can be found here: https://www.phe-events.org.uk/hpa/frontend/reg/thome.csp?pageID=239673&eventID=606&traceRedir=2&eventID=606

Emily Prestwood joins AQMRC

We are delighted to announce that Emily Prestwood has joined the Air Quality Management Resource Centre as a Research Associate. Emily joins us from Loughborough University where she was a transport and infrastructure researcher on an EU FP7 project, CARONTE. She also completed a PhD in the Building Energy Research Group entitled ‘Energy use and related emissions of the UK residential sector: quantitative modelling and policy implications’, analysing historical changes in householders’ energy using behaviour in response to energy and climate change policies and initiatives.  Prior to her PhD, Emily worked on the EUCO2 80/50, a climate change mitigation project engaging stakeholders in regional scenario workshops to produce energy-emissions scenarios to inform local emission reduction policy.  

 

 

Tim invited to Dutch Government workshop on Behaviour in Sustainable Mobility

On 27^th and 29^th September, Tim has been invited to attend an event in Rotterdam hosted by the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment on

 ‘Behaviour in Sustainable Mobility and Logistics’. The conference, held aboard the SS Rotterdam cruiseship, is co-organised by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and supported by the European Commission.