News
A Meeting of Air Quality Minds
In April 2022, members of the TAPAS network, the FUVN network, the CSTB and the OQAI met to discuss national indoor air quality strategies in France and the UK. The meeting of these four initiatives, together with invited experts from academia, industry and government science organisations, happened over two days in Paris and involved a series of presentations and workshops. A key focus of the meeting was on “observing indoor air” - how we can develop coordinated approaches to capturing data on indoor air quality at scale and over long periods of time and how this can be used to understand health effects and support policy and practice. The knowledge sharing and informative discussions will shape both the French and UK networks’ future indoor air quality studies and campaigns.
TAPAS Full Network Meeting 7 March 2022 - talks available
Our recent full network meeting on 7 March 2022 focused on the topic 'Should air cleaners be used in schools?' and included a range of speakers on this topic. Thank you to our speakers and everyone who attended this interesting discussion. You can watch the recordings here.
TAPAS Collab Funds Three Projects
Our TAPAS Collaboration Building Workshop (#TAPASCollab) has resulted in the funding of three exciting new school-facing research projects focused on improving air quality at school. The workshop ran from September 9-24 2021, and saw 24 participants and 9 mentors across sectors and disciplines, come together to develop innovative projects which will engage pupils and teachers in improving air quality. Watch this space for more information on the selected projects and the teams behind them...
A quarter of pupils in the UK attend schools where air pollution is over the WHO limit
Our TAPAS colleagues at Global Action Plan estimate that 3.4 million children learn in an unhealthy environment.
“Schools should be safe places of learning, not places where students are at risk of health hazards,” said Dr Maria Neira, director at the World Health Organization. “These figures are unequivocally too high and harming children’s health. There is no safe level of air pollution, and if we care about our children and their future, air pollution limits should reflect WHO guidelines.”
TAPAS Noticeboard
TES Magazine Article: Attendance focus shows why good ventilation in schools still matters
Prof Cath Noakes and Dr Henry Burridge have published an article in TES magazine on why ventilation and air cleaning still matter in classrooms. Read the article in full here and get some practical tips to boost attendance and help improve learning outcomes.
How can models help us better identify impactful interventions in schools?
Impact on Urban Health's new Health Effects of Air Pollution programme is interested in exploring how models may help us better identify impactful interventions to reduce air pollution in and around schools, while minimising the burden on school staff. Impact on Urban Health works in the London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark is open to opportunities to validate or test models in real-world school environments. Please contact TAPAS and we'll put you in touch with the programme lead to discuss possible opportunities or to learn more about Impact on Urban Health's 10 year programme to address the health effects of air pollution.