BEHAViour and Impacts on AIR quality: Combining forecasting with co-created, targeted messages to reduce polluting behaviours
BEHAV-I-AIR is a project funded by Science Foundation Ireland as part of the Healthy Environment for All Challenge under National Challenge Fund.
Table of Contents:
What is BehaviAir?
BehaviAir is a project funded by Science Foundation Ireland under the “Healthy Environment for All” National Challenge Fund. It is a collaboration between UCC, Cork City Council, Cork Healthy Cities and other community and academic partners who are passionate about raising awareness about air pollution issues and solutions, and promoting less polluting behaviour.
Our Challenge
Air pollution is a major contributor to climate emissions and a global health threat. In Ireland, air pollution is largely determined by how we travel and heat our homes.
However, the links between personal behaviours, air quality and health are often invisible to the public. This poses a challenge for creating effective communication strategies to empower citizens to contribute to cleaner air. Evidence shows that top-down, untargeted information campaigns have limited behavioural impact.
We need air quality communication that can make air pollution visible and relevant to individuals, and that can empower people to protect themselves and others from dirty air.
OUR SOLUTION
Our innovative solution is to combine technological advances in air quality forecasting with community-engaged design thinking to co-create air quality alerts and behavioural prompts with the public.
We will work with different stakeholders across the community in co-creation workshops to co-develop an online platform of air quality alerts based on forecasting which provides timely, accessible and empowering behavioural messages for increased awareness, engagement in protective behaviours and public mobilisation for clean air.
This model will then be scaled up to a national level building on leading air quality-related activities in Cork city.
Our participatory approach will enable us to develop a communication strategy that works for people and that resonates with their needs and visions for clean air.
Co-creating ideas
Brainstorming
#NextGenerationEU
Behav-I-Air 