Feature
In 2021, the Air Quality News team wa world, where we successfully hosted t Both conferences brought together local authorities, academics, policy makers and green sector leaders who all came together to hear presentations from our excellent line-up of speakers and to engage with our wide-range of air quality exhibitors.
T
he first Northern Air Quality Conference was held in September at the iconic Midland Hotel, Manchester. Chaired by Stephen Cirell, the host of the Environment Journal Podcast and advisory energy consultant, the day included presentations on the history of air pollution, the economic benefits of Clean Air Zones and the significant
18
problem of indoor air pollution. Highlights of the day included a presentation from Dr Gary Fuller, who looked back on the ‘Great Smog’ of the 1950s and asked the complicated question, has air pollution ever been this bad? Despite the lack of any monitoring data making this question difficult to answer, Gary concluded that although
airqualitynews.com
air pollution may not be as bad, the total burden on humanity is much worse – with 40% of humanity currently living in continents where air pollution is the worst on the planet. Next up to present was Joe Swift, senior advisor in the Public Health and Air Quality Team and Julian Watkins, a social scientist at the Environment Agency. Joe and Julian told the audience about their ongoing Air Quality Inequalities Project. The project is a collaborative effort and aims to bring together the voices and lived experiences of over 200 individuals and 80 groups who have expertise in air quality and health inequalities. Their aim is to answer difficult questions such as ‘Can the job you do affect your exposure to air quality?’ or ‘Does where you live affect your health?’ We also heard from Cllr Sarah Warren, Deputy Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Sustainable Travel at Bath and North
