Photographs taken at 'Cities for Clean Air : London 2012' except photographs of pigeons and London Eye by Stew Dean. Some rights reserved.
This section documents the proceedings of 'Cities for Clean Air : London 2012' - a conference and unconference which was held on 14 July 2012, immediately prior to the 2012 London Olympics. The event brought together experts, campaigners and the general public who want see good air quality in their neighbourhood and beyond. About twenty people attended the event at the University London Union (Map). It was the founding meeting of Network for Clean Air.
The background to the conference/unconference was a legal challenge by Client Earth which showed there were seventeen places in the UK which would not achieve limits for harmful air pollution (NO2) within legal EU limits by 1 January 2015. Indeed, one of them, Greater London - won't achieve these limits until about 2025. Local authorities and national government needed the engagement of civil society to bring forth adequate measures to control pollutants, improve public health and the quality of life. In London alone, poor air quality leads to the premature death of about four thousand people annually (that’s about the same as the ‘great smog’ of December 1952).
The seventeen places which were expected to fail to meet statutory air quality requirements are: London, Manchester, Liverpool, Teesside, Hull, Southampton, Glasgow, Belfast, South Wales, West Yorkshire, Eastern England, South East England, East Midlands, The Potteries, Yorkshire and Humberside, West Midlands, and North East England.
PROCEEDINGS
Morning - conference
Conference - invited speakers
- Murad Qureshi, London Assembly Member and Chair of the London Assembly Health and Environment Committee, opened Cities for Clean Air : London 2012. Video
- Why Air Pollution is Bad for Human Health - Dr Ian Mudway,MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, King's College London. Video/Audio/Slides
- Air pollution on trial - Alan Andrews, Client Earth (activist lawyers). Video/Audio/Slides
- London Air: the Politics, the Vision - Jenny Bates, Friends of the Earth London Campaigner. Video
You can view a slide show of the presentations via Flickr (14 slides).
Conference - panel discussion with speakers
View Video/Photographs of the panel discussion with the four speakers and members of the audience.
Afternoon - unconference
Unconference - workshops, discussions
The unconference (Wikipedia definition) was an opportunity to share knowledge and experience; discover new approaches; learn with others; and meet new friends.
View Slides/Photographs of the unconference.
Reporting & publicity
Some of the publicity, reports and articles for the 'Cities for Clean Air : London 2012' event.