AIR QUALITY

Are we breathing clean air on our islands?

The role of actionable air quality data, emission reduction technologies and indoor purification solutions in supporting policy-making, spreading environmental awareness and promoting clean air

In cooperation with Islands, Small States Institute, University of Malta and University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

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Abstract

Air quality is the leading global environmental risk factor for disease. Therefore, it is essential for governments and institutions to set policies to ensure healthy air for their citizens.
In order to support, design and implement such policies, it is essential to have sufficiently accurate and informative data on the concentration of air pollutants, which allow the evolution of the “health status” of the air in an area to be constantly monitored in order to highlight and address any critical issues and, at the same time, quantify the impact of policies and improvement solutions. By leveraging low-cost monitoring technologies (which are more accessible and less bulky than traditional solutions), it is possible to reach levels of capillarity that would otherwise be unattainable on islands, both for technological and economic reasons. This paradigm, promoted by important international programmes such as the UN AIR GEMS, is a true extension of the traditional approach, exploiting the emerging synergies between new technologies and conventional systems to collect increasingly
accurate, accessible and informative environmental data. Monitoring is the starting point to unlock the implementation of emission reduction and indoor purification technologies by measuring their impact and promoting them to citizens through a stronger and consolidated environmental awareness.
This session aims to present the distributed environmental monitoring paradigm and the emerging clean-air technologies, with a focus on the challenges and opportunities encountered in its application in island contexts. The presentation will therefore be divided into two parts:
1. General presentation of the distributed environmental monitoring paradigm: technologies, limitations, potentials, application cases.
2. Challenges and opportunities for air quality monitoring in the case of islands.
3. Emerging emission reduction technologies and solutions that can be implemented on the islands to promote and defend clean air.
4. How outdoor air quality affects indoor environments and purification solutions to breath clean air in buildings.
This session can by far not present all solutions and ideas but intends to serve as a welcome and starting point to all islanders (& supporters) who wish to come on board and start networking with some of the leading experts and managers.

Draft Agenda

13.30   Introduction & moderation

• Paolo Barbato – GTI Specialist

13.40   Setting the scene

• Stefano Moncada – Director, Islands and Small States Institute – Lecturer, Institute for European Studies, University of Malta

13.50   Presentation of Projects

Monitoring air quality to guide sustainable policy making – The Air Quality Index for islands

• Craig Michie – Professor, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
• Carlo Alberto Gaetaniello – COO and co-founder, Wiseair, Italy

Indoor environments and purification solutions to breath clean air in buildings

• Raffaella Moro – CEO, REair / Gianluca Guerrini – R&D Manager, REair

14.20 Round Table

• Nadine Mercieca – Head of Unit at the Environment and Resource Authority, Malta
• Christian Del Bono – President, Federalberghi Eolie
• Enrico Toja – President of the Eco-Sustainable Development Association of Elafonisos

15.00 End of the workshop

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