LIFE Index-Air project

The LIFE Index-Air project was implemented during October 2016 – March 2021, in the framework of the LIFE EU programme. Its main objective was to provide relevant authorities and policy makers with comprehensive air quality management strategies, based on documented effectiveness with respect to the protection of public health. The key activities and good practices promoted through the project are:

• 1) Population risk assessment based on the actual exposure of citizens, quantified by the application of exposure and dosimetry models, and not through ambient air pollution levels, as is the common practice in most studies;
• 2) The association of major health endpoints with exposure to PM, in terms not only of total PM mass but also in relation to specific PM components and emission sources;
• 3) The development and implementation of an innovative methodology for linking pollutant emissions with quantified health impacts, delivered to the competent authorities in the form of a flexible policy tool for evaluating control strategies and designing long-term air quality management policies;
• 4) The provision of ongoing support to authorities in the framework of the implementation of the "Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution" and the development of air quality action plans;
• 5) Raising public awareness, particularly of the new generation of citizens, through the implementation of a carefully designed dissemination plan with targeted actions (such as the organisation of interactive informative seminars for elementary school students), with the final objective to assist in identifying simple everyday habits that may help in reducing exposure to hazardous pollutants and to promote in general the adoption of environmentally friendly practices.