Introduction to air quality – AirQualityNews

Paul Day speaks to those involved in the Introduction to Air Quality course, launched by the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London

Launched in September 2023 and led by Dr Diana Varaden from Imperial’s Environmental Research Group (pictured below), the Introduction to Air Quality Course aims to equip community leaders with essential knowledge about air quality. The aim is to enable them to effectively disseminate this information and take meaningful action within their communities.

The idea behind the course began to take shape in March last year, when the Environmental Research Group organised a course on air quality for the team at Impact on Urban Health, part of the charity Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation.

Impact on Urban Health funds projects that address health inequalities that primarily affect people in cities, such as child health and nutrition, multiple chronic conditions, the health effects of air pollution, and children’s mental health.

‘We have a long-standing partnership with them,’ Diana Varaden explains, ‘and we thought we could give them a better understanding of air quality: the causes, the effects and all the other things that we have in the course now. Because they are funders, it would be good for them to know where these problems are, so they can then invest the money properly.’

So ERG put together a one-day workshop for the core team. ‘They spent the day with us for a condensed course and they found it really useful,’ Diana explains. ‘They particularly liked that we gave them enough time to ask questions – all those things they weren’t sure about – in a small group with the researchers present.’

Impact on Urban Health was so impressed that they decided to give the course a life of its own and offer it to their partners, people who work for them now or could work for them in the future.

Impact itself funded eight courses. It was decided to run two per year, one of which would be a two-day, physical event at Imperial; the other an online course, which would run for two evenings. An online course at the end of this month (June) will be the halfway point of the programme.

Priority for the courses will be given to people working with Impact on Urban Health, but once everyone is on board, the courses will be opened up. ‘We have people from NGOs, councillors, GPs, clinicians, all sorts of different careers.’ Diana says: ‘People who don’t know much about air pollution but are really interested in the topic and can use that information and knowledge to then go into community settings and do something about it, but with the right facts.’

The course starts from the basics and delves into the research and evidence surrounding air quality, shedding light on its impact and the varying degrees of susceptibility in different groups. The course content is led by experienced academic staff and researchers from the ERG and is tailored to be accessible to a lay audience, while providing comprehensive insights into the topic.

The following topics will be discussed during the physical event:

Day 1:

• What is air pollution? What are its sources? And how do we measure air pollution?
• Evaluation of the health effects of indoor and outdoor pollution on vulnerable populations in the urban environment
• How are we exposed to air pollution in our daily lives? And how can we communicate air pollution as a health risk?
• Air pollution and construction sites

Day 2:

• Theory and practice of engaging the public in air quality discussions
• London Air Quality Network and Breathe London Network
• Air Pollution Action and Policy
• Air pollution and climate change: two sides of the same coin

The online event is shorter, lasting five hours in total, compared to the nine hours of the physical event. ‘We wanted to make the course shorter so that people could attend in the evenings,’ Diana explains. ‘It’s more aimed at people who absolutely can’t take days off. We have some councillors coming in the evenings and some doctors coming too, so we’ve tried to keep it as short as possible. But in the session that I’m running for the online course, I’ve tried to combine two sessions into one, covering exposure and community engagement. And in the first session for the online course, David Green is going to talk a bit about Breathe London, so people will hear about it.’

Although the courses are free, there is also a scholarship available thanks to funding from Impact on Urban Health, because, as Diana explains, ‘we don’t want the fact that people can’t afford to take a day off work to be a barrier to them taking the course. So we’re levelling the playing field for people who want to take part but who don’t have the financial means, for example if they need childcare.’

It turns out that participants on the course are just as enthusiastic about it as the original Impact team. One of those who attended in March was Jacks Lampon from Coopers Lane Bike Bus. ‘This course has given me so much knowledge, from the composition of the air we breathe,’ she says. ‘Who and what pollutes the air, the technology of the measuring equipment, to the medical history and patient trials in the UK. I now have the confidence to discuss the impacts of air pollution, how it relates to my group’s activities, and I feel empowered to continue to push for change. This was two very enjoyable days of intensive education that has given me the confidence to improve the work I do. What an incredible experience to learn from leading academics on such a powerful course and I would highly recommend it to anyone working in the community.’

‘Jacks has done a fantastic job with the bike bus and is a very, very dedicated person,’ says Diana. ‘And on the first course we had a paediatrician who came all the way from Manchester who was absolutely blown away by the course. He said we really should have an educational offer like this for healthcare professionals because there is nothing like it for them. He felt it would enable them to start having these conversations with patients, with the authority that knowledge gives you.’

As a follow-up, the ERG team asks participants three months after the course to report on the actions they have taken as a result of their participation in the course. Some of the responses they have had include:

• I told others and requested that all council members be present.
• I walk regularly and always try to take paths that are least exposed to vehicle pollution and I also stay away from construction sites.
• Incorporate into my clinical practice. Also thinking of spreading this knowledge to others.
• I have actively talked to friends, family and neighbors about air pollution.
• Training given to colleagues
• I have used the information from the course to better understand air pollution and to communicate this to funders through my work.

Matt Towner, Programme Director of the Health Impacts of Air Pollution Programme at Impact on Urban Health, said: ‘We are delighted that there is so much interest in learning more about air pollution – the single greatest environmental risk to health. Air pollution is devastating the health of people around the world, particularly in urban areas. It is not only a public health crisis but also a social justice issue, one that disproportionately impacts the most marginalised communities. But there are ways to improve air quality, and quickly. The popularity of this course is a testament to Dr Varaden’s skill as a tutor and we hope that everyone who enrols will leave with practical tools to improve air quality.’

The next online course is scheduled for late June, followed by an on-site course at the end of September.

Individuals interested in attending the course should initially complete an Expression of Interest form. For further information, please contact the Course Administrator Swati Jain [email protected]

---

This article originally appeared in the latest issue of Air Quality News magazine