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Description
Air quality is at the top of the causes of premature death according to the WHO. In the Czech Republic, it is responsible for over 10,000 deaths a year. Due to the intensive usage of cars (road traffic is 73% of all journeys),the car is one of the worst urban air polluters. Although internal combustion engines are among the cleaner combustion devices, many motorists drive with non-functional particulate filters (DPF) or intentionally dismantle them, thus increasing the negative impact on citizens’ health. According to the attached study (2017), a working DPF was missing in almost every tenth car and the average emissions of a new car with a non-functional filter were higher than of older diesel cars. 5-10% of vehicles produced 50% of emissions.
Because of this, our project - in the area of Reducing the Negative Impact of Human Activity on Air Quality - will target car owners. We will develop ca. 40 minute videos, graphics and photographs to motivate city residents and those who commute to them. The campaign will include scientific publications in cooperation with its partner ASEM, which recently pointed out extensive shortcomings in emmision measurements during regular technical inspections of vehicles, concluded from the analysis of data from the Ministry of Transport''s Technical Inspection Info-System. The webpage of the project - in addition to recommendations for state and local government - will also analyse the development of technical inspections in the context of measured air quality (see European air quality index) and on the basis of these will hold online workshops with mayors of selected municipalities to discuss low emission zones for their region as well as monitoring the awareness of the population regarding vehicle maintenance and transport emissions.
Summary of project results
Due to the intensive use of private vehicles, transportation accounts for most of the air pollution in cities, which has a negative impact on human health. The main share (50%) of harmful emissions is generated by 5-10 % of vehicles in poor technical condition, yet the public is largely unaware of this problem, political stakeholders do not address it and technical inspections do not correct it in practice. Therefore, the aim of our project was to increase citizens'' involvement in the operation of motor vehicles and, through a popular education campaign, to get them to reduce the negative impact of human activity on air quality. Our key message was that the technical quality and maintenance of internal combustion engines is essential to reduce the negative impact of air pollution on human health. Legislation alone will not ensure awareness and a change in people''s attitudes towards the operation of their vehicles, so it was necessary to highlight the negative environmental impacts of transport emissions so that citizens could address the problem themselves.
To raise awareness among citizens, we disseminated scientifically based information on air pollution and international best practices to improve air quality with the help of colleagues from the CTU, University Hospital Brno, and Transparency International. With the help of our project partner, the Association of Emission Engineers and Repairers, we measured vehicle pollution in real life among interested citizens. We created and promoted 5 different campaigns: videos, a social media campaign, scientific articles and a free online book, a workshop for municipal stakeholders and a street art campaign where we used a moving car "wreck" to demonstrate the problem. Communicating the problem to citizens in different ways, as well as with municipalities, was crucial to achieve positive responses, as bottom-up solutions are slow and laborious.
We''ve taken significant steps to ensure our project''s outputs are widely accessible. All our materials are now freely available on the project website. Furthermore, we''ve amplified our message through various media platforms, including TV and radio news segments, as well as featuring on Transparency International''s podcast "Stošestka." Through these concerted efforts, our campaign has successfully reached over 1.5 million individuals. Approximately 150,000 of which about 150,000 were able to get in-depth information on how to operate and maintain motor vehicles in a way that reduces the negative impact on air quality, which was the main objective of our project. Considering that half of the harmful emissions are generated by a small number of vehicles in poor condition (regardless of their age), when our message reaches owners of problematic vehicles, it can lead to significant improvements in local air quality.