New project to improve air quality in London’s most polluted boroughs
Non-profit organisation Cross River Partnership has received funding from Defra to launch a new project working with businesses and local communities to improve air quality across London.
The new project, Clean Air Villages 3 (CAV3) will be led by Westminster City Council to deliver solutions ranging from shared electric van hire for local businesses to cargo bike schemes.
The project will work in partnership with 12 London boroughs and 4 Business Improvement Districts, supporting local businesses, hospitals and wider communities.
CAV3 will also work with academic institutions to monitor pollutants and use the findings to engage with local communities to help develop a cohesive approach towards behaviour change that improves air quality in the short-term as well as having long-term positive impacts.
The project is estimated to reduce nitrogen oxides by 86.7kg and particulate matter by 3,332.5g over the course of the year.
Kate Fenton, project manager at Cross River Partnership, said: ‘At Cross River Partnership, we are extremely pleased to be awarded the Defra AQ grant once again, as this will not only enable us to continue our hard work to improve air quality in some of the most polluted areas of London, but it will enable us to continue to support businesses and communities during this challenging time.
‘Promoting long term behaviour change around the invisible issue of air quality is a real challenge, but the Clean Air Villages project centres around supporting businesses and communities who often don’t have the resources or knowledge to take steps towards reducing their own impact on local air quality.
‘This global pandemic forces us all to rethink our actions and behaviours and is, therefore, an opportunity to do things better. Being able to trial and implement tangible solutions that reduce congestion and pollution via individual and collective action is the essence of this project that is enabled by the Defra AQ grant.’
Photo Credit – CAV3
