Together with the City of Brno, experts from Masaryk University will develop a project focused on monitoring air pollution in Brno. The research is intended to provide data for the Action Plan for Improving Air Quality, in place since 2017. Photo Credit: Freepik / Illustrative Photo.
Brno, Mar 18 (BD) – Experts from the Faculty of Economics and Administration at Masaryk University (MUNI) will lead a research project focused on monitoring air pollution in Brno and expanding the city’s current air monitoring capacities. The efforts will take place in coordination with the city council and with the support of Call 2A Tromso funds, a Norwegian project. The end goal is to suggest a valid course of action to improve the quality of air in the city.
“Clean air fundamentally affects not only our health, but also the quality of the environment. In cooperation with Masaryk University, we want to continuously collect data that will help us fulfill the city’s strategies. Specifically, our Action Plan for Improving Air Quality and the Action Plan for Sustainable Energy and Climate, in which we are committed to reducing CO 2 emissions by 40 percent by 2030,” said Petr Hladík (KDU-CSL), First Deputy Mayor of Brno.
Priority will be given to areas in the vicinity of roads or railway corridors, incinerators and gardening colonies through mobile measuring stations. Results are expected within a year and the outcomes are expected to inform several policy areas: “The data obtained can form important input for decision-making in various areas, such as transport, healthcare, education or the environment. We are also concerned with airborne dust from traffic, construction work and fields around Brno,” added Hladík.
“We will also measure the extent to which a particular person is exposed to air pollution through small mobile devices that volunteers will carry with them. Thanks to this, we will be able to estimate the burden on residents resulting from their specific habits of moving around the city,” explained project coordinator Vilém Pařil from MUNI.
An Action Plan for Improving Air Quality has been in place in Brno since 2017, promoted by the City Council, and every year new information is gathered to either modify or reinforce measures to improve air quality.
According to Tomáš Koláčný (Piráti), 2nd Deputy Mayor, the results of the project will be published and visualized on the city portal data.brno.cz, including source data, which can be used for further analysis.
The experts from MUNI will be counting on the help from colleagues in Oslo, and working in close cooperation with the University of Stavanger.
