On September 25-26, 2024, the HungAIRy LIFE integrated project organized the second International Conference on Air Pollution - Moving Towards Clean Air for Europe. The event brought together experts, policymakers, and key stakeholders from across Europe to discuss critical air pollution issues, sharing best practices and solutions for improving air quality.

Air pollution is widely recognized as Europe’s largest environmental health risk and has a significant impact on the climate. While progress has been made to reduce concentrations of key air pollutants, further reductions in emissions across various sectors remain necessary to meet established standards and guidelines.

The first conference was held November 9-10, 2021, with 88 participants, 20 presentations, plenary sessions, and four e-posters.

This year’s conference featured three opening addresses.

Anikó Raisz, State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy, emphasized that air pollution knows no borders and affects all regions beyond its sources.

 “Improving air quality is a common European and global challenge, requiring efforts from all countries,” she stated.

 She presented the HungAIRy project’s key initiatives, such as the PM monitoring systems in Kaposvár and Miskolc, the eco-manager network, and public awareness efforts. She also detailed Hungarian government measures to reduce fine particulate matter, including the Green Bus program, home renovation incentives, and the expansion of e-mobility.

The Secretary also highlighted the Borrowed Air project, a national awareness-raising campaign for primary school children, which launched in 2023 with the participation of over 2,000 students across 15 locations. This initiative continues to expand to secondary schools, reaching more than 1,200 additional students and educating youth about air pollution.

Gábor Szanka, Chief Executive of HungaroMet Hungarian Meteorological Service, spoke on the role of the Meteorological Service nationwide and within the project, announcing HungAIRy’s integration with HungaroMet in January 2024. He highlighted the company's primary role in delivering weather forecasts and environmental services, with a strong focus on air quality. HungaroMet maintains a measurement network and consolidates air quality data and environmental protection services, including the HungAIRy project:

“I’m delighted to have the HungAIRy project here, with all the committed people working on the measurement side and other areas of environmental protection.”

Guido de Wilt, Policy Officer at the European Commission, noted the historical significance of the day, coinciding with the start of the new European Commission. He highlighted the new air quality directive’s importance and emphasized that the conference offered a timely overview of current projects. He highlighted the value of dissemination and international cooperation.

Following the opening speeches, the plenary session began with two key presentations: “Key Updates and Policy Context: Navigating the New Directive” by Guido de Wilt and “ATMOSYS: Modelling Toolbox to Support AAQD Implementation” by Stijn Janssen, Program Manager at VITO.

The conference proceeded with two sessions featuring ten presentations on European LIFE IP projects (HungAIRy, Małopolska, Silesia Blue Sky, PREPAIR, Clean Air), air quality plans, emission-reduction measures, air quality forecasting, and more.

On the second day, two additional sessions provided eight presentations on the AQ-WATCH Toolkit, the health impacts of nitrogen dioxide exposure, and a real-life test protocol for log wood stoves, among other topics.

In total, the conference included 18 presentations from 11 countries, with participants and presenters from Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Poland, Serbia, and Slovakia. The event welcomed 106 attendees on the first day and 57 on the second.

This two-day conference, organized by LIFE IP HungAIRy, was a resounding success, underscoring the importance of knowledge-sharing platforms to support clean air initiatives across Europe.

The presentations from the conference are available here.

The abstracts of the conference presentations can be downloaded here.