Details
The World Health Organisation and the UK Government recognise that air pollution is the largest environmental risk to public health we face today.
Air pollution can cause and worsen health effects in all individuals, particularly society’s most vulnerable populations. Long-term exposure to air pollution can cause chronic conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases as well as lung cancer, leading to reduced life expectancy. Short-term increases in levels of air pollution can also cause a range of health impacts, including effects on lung function, exacerbation of asthma, increases in respiratory and cardiovascular hospital admissions and mortality. The annual mortality of human-made air pollution in the UK is roughly equivalent to between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths every year. In London alone, nearly 9,500 people die early each year due to long-term exposure.
It is estimated that between 2017 and 2025 the total cost to the NHS and social care system of air pollutants (fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide), for which there is more robust evidence for an association, will have amounted to £1.6 billion. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has approximated the annual cost to the UK economy at about £16 billion. More recently, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) reported this figure to be around £20 billion.
EMISSIONS & AIR QUALITY Smart Classes show key buyer side stakeholders how they can deploy the latest digital technology-enabled solutions, data-driven strategies, policies and best practices to improve urban air quality and drive down emissions and air pollution in our cities and regions.
Qualifying delegates include commissioning, procurement, trialling, partnering, policy and programme leads, senior influencers, strategic decision makers, environmental managers, climate/sustainability/transport/public health officers and planners from local authorities (e.g. city, borough, metropolitan, district and county councils); public and private transport operators/service providers; sub-regional transport bodies, combined authorities, integrated transport authorities and passenger transport executives; freight and logistics operators; airports and port operators; vehicle manufacturers; energy providers; potential partners from industry (e.g. retail, construction, manufacturing and waste management sectors) and healthcare; DfT, Defra, EA, BEIS, DHSC, UKHSA and other and supporting national agencies; prime contractors; academia etc.
Core themes range from IoT smart emissions monitoring, hyperlocal air quality monitoring, indoor air quality innovation, air pollution forecasting models based on neural networks, air pollution abatement systems/technologies, mapping and visualising air quality in real-time, and utilising digital twins for future air quality scenarios, to compliance and standards, managing and enforcing clean air and low emission zones, decarbonising highways and infrastructure maintenance, machine learning techniques to analyse weather and emissions data, deploying telematics and geo-fencing technology, embracing biophilia, EVs and hydrogen buses, DRT and MaaS impacts, active travel impacts, innovative ways to clean polluted air, carbon capture and storage, and commercial sector initiatives such as net zero construction, emissions-free logistics, emissions based parking tariffs and anti-pollution bus stops. We also explore planetary crises – e.g. climate change, pandemic, biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste – as catalysts for change, accelerating the use of available solutions and motivating policies, behavioural change and investment in new innovation.
EMISSIONS & AIR QUALITY Smart Class 2025 will take place in Leicester, at City Hall (below), on Thursday 8th May. This will be our eighth EMISSIONS & AIR QUALITY Smart Class and follows on from previously acclaimed editions in London (2024, 2023, 2022, 2021 and 2019), Leeds (2022) and Birmingham (2019). Delegates will hear from industry movers, shapers and disruptors during initial rapid-fire thought leadership presentations, before moving on to in-depth consultations with experts and peers during the roundtable discussions. In addition, the Smart Class will feature up to 3 keynote presentations from major buyer side stakeholders giving real world insight into emissions and air quality policies and strategies, ongoing programmes and challenges, digital visions, collaborative initiatives, adoptions of emerging/transformative technologies and data driven outcomes. This half day in-person event is free to attend for bona fide delegates satisfying our registration criteria.
Previous Emissions & Air Quality Smart Classes have attracted senior delegates from stakeholders such as:
Previous presentations include:
Testimonials and feedback from our previous Emissions & Air Quality Smart Classes:
Head of Environment, First Bus
“Thank you, it was really nice to meet you last week and join this interesting event”
Principal Environmental Health Scientist – Air Quality and Public Health Team, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
“Great to have attended this insightful and thought provoking event! Looking forward to the next edition”
Principal Environmental Protection Officer, Southwark Council
“Recently I attended the 2024 Emissions and Air Quality Smart Class, hosted by Smart Classes – a fantastic one-day networking and learning event – hearing from leading businesses, councils, health colleagues and more! Attending as a Local Authority it was great to see ‘how it’s done’. Thoroughly enjoyed hearing about the great opportunities modern technologies offer to understand pollution better, and how to develop policies and strategies for improved air quality. Engaging, collaborative and informative…and made some good networking connections. I am really looking forward to attending future Smart Classes and to continue networking with SMEs, beyond the introduction Smart Classes provides”
Climate Change Officer – Partnership Engagement, Surrey County Council
“All of the expert presentations were very useful and provided a lot of food for thought on the various areas”
Principal Air Quality Officer, Oxford City Council
“Highly engaging morning with good networking and informative presentations. The potential technology uses in the future were most valuable”
Transport Development Officer, Leicester City Council
“It was a pleasure to speak at this Smart Classes event on behalf of Global Action Plan on the critical role of collaboration to tackle air pollution – all the more important as we head to Clean Air Day, where groups across the country will be calling for action on clean air! Really appreciate the invite, and getting the chance to share our work, and learn from others”
Head of Programmes – Clean Air, Global Action Plan (GAP)
“Had a really good time. Very interesting to hear what other people are doing”
Principal Environmental Officer, Slough Borough Council
“Well presented, informative and engaging”
Communications Manager – Green Transport, Greater London Authority (GLA)
“It was a very enjoyable and interesting session. Hope to see you again soon”
ZEV & Energy Integration Team Leader, Oxfordshire County Council
“Thank you very much, it was a great event”
Sustainable Transport Planner, Hackney Council
“I enjoyed this day. Many thanks for an invitation”
Head of City Planning Policy, Westminster City Council
“Thank you for the invite. It definitely enabled some interesting conversations around air quality with the local authority attendees”
Programme Manager, Centre for Low Emission Construction (CLEC), Imperial College London
“It was a really interesting event and I walked away with new connections and a lot of useful information”
Sustainability Consultant, Smart Transport Hub
“Useful and informative”
Air Quality Associate, Cundall
“Thank you so much. As always, Smart Class events are very insightful. Builds bridges between industry professionals and opens doors to collaboration in projects and opportunities”
Project Manager, Mace
“I just wanted to drop you a note to say thank you for having me today. I thought it was a fantastic event and a brilliant opportunity to connect with the wider AQ community”
Head of Carbon and Air Quality Group, National Highways
“It was a real pleasure to join Smart Classes for the Emissions and Air Quality event yesterday to discuss net zero, emerging technology and some of the solutions for the construction sector. Thank you for a great event, interesting presentations and great networking opportunities”
Programme Manager, Centre for Low Emission Construction at the School of Public Health, Imperial College London
“Size of Smart Class was very welcoming – intimate and great for networking”
Sponsor, Transport for London
“It was an excellent session, and I enjoyed the roundtable discussions as well as meeting some of the other participants. Learning about National Highways’ strategy was really useful for making sure our future projects are relevant and most valuable to learn about asset management and how it’s connected to AQ”
Project Manager, Cross River Partnership
“The presentations were very informative and engaging roundtable discussions”
Senior Planner, London Borough of Islington
“Useful event and a good chance to be able to network and hear about what is happening elsewhere”
Project Manager – Air Quality, Hertfordshire County Council
“I enjoyed the presentations. Keynotes were good for our local plan and interesting use of sensors demonstrated during the roundtables”
Environmental Protection Team Leader, South Oxfordshire District Council
“Thanks for the invitations to the Smart Classes. They really help with keeping abreast of changes in the sustainability field and I always recommend them to colleagues. I always come away having learnt something new or discovering a new aspect of this area to investigate and follow up. I will definitely be attending further London classes”
Future Mobility Project Manager, Surrey County Council
“It was a really great event, thank you for hosting it so well!”
Sustainable Transport Planner, Hackney Council
“Excellent organisation. More relevant and useful than I expected”
Councillor, London Borough of Barnet
“It was probably your best one yet! Presentations provided real food for thought. Well targeted and very informative. Helped to provide a pathway to the future and roundtables included a good discussion around legislation”
Service Director – Transport, Highways and Waste, Herefordshire Council
“Good event. Hyperlocal air quality network especially interesting”
Air Quality Technical Officer, City of London Corporation
“Informative and targeted at the right level. Retrofitting and carbon reduction topics were of most interest”
Programme Manager – Carbon, Hertfordshire County Council
“Relevant to current projects. Excellent event”
Associate Director – Air Quality, WSP
“I felt slightly apprehensive going into London to attend my first in-person event for a long time. However, the experience could not have been better – inspiring, friendly speakers and delegates that made me want to get out and attend more events like this. I have returned to work with new energy and belief, with my passion for the area that I work in topped-up. The presentations ran smoothly and cohesively, and I learnt from every one of the roundtables. Thank you for the invite. I will be sure to attend future events and have encouraged colleagues to do so too”
Sustainable Mobility Officer, Hertfordshire County Council
“Just wanted to say thanks again for today. I really enjoyed the session and found the topics so interesting and useful. Hope to see you again soon”
Head of Air Quality, Environment & Technology, Transport for London
“A really engaging and enjoyable event with fantastic opportunity for roundtable discussion and networking”
Sustainable Transport Planner, London Borough of Hackney
“Interesting to hear about innovative solutions in London, and very informative and insightful to hear about DRT and integrating transport systems”
Public Health Project Officer, London Borough of Havering
“Really interesting presentations and case study examples. Roundtables were all so good!”
Clean Tech Project Manager, Westminster City Council
“Great event, thanks!”
Head of Desk Air Quality and Surface Transport – Government Relations, Transport for London
“It was a super event and a good opportunity for me and my team to present our new primary schools air quality website…once it’s being well used by schools we’ll have some good data and evaluation for behaviour change”
Principal Policy Officer – Climate & Environment, Canterbury City Council
“Really enjoyed this event and loved the opportunity to share Solent Transport’s progress on the Future Transport Zone”
Future Transport Zone Manager (Southampton City Council), Solent Transport
“I really enjoyed the event and thank you for the opportunity”
Sustainable Projects Lead (Air Quality Programme Lead) – Green City and Infrastructure, Southampton City Council
“It was a redefining moment for me. All of the sessions were valuable. Thanks for the invite and look forward to being part of the next Smart Class”
Transport Planner, West Sussex County Council
“Excellent organisation and brilliant speakers”
Senior Environmental Specialist, National Highways
“Something good in all of the presentations, all the roundtables had their highlights and speaking to German colleagues was fun and informative”
Lead Sponsor – Regional Programmes, Transport for London
“I enjoyed the Emissions & Air Quality Smart Class…a very good event format”
Managing Director, Thames Gateway Tramlink
“Absolutely brilliant event, really enjoyed the session”
Sector Lead – Smart (ER) Mobility, Stantec
“All of the presentations and roundtables were informative. How monitoring technology can make a difference to behavioural change was most valuable and demonstrating behavioural change impacts to pollutant reduction of particular interest”
Principal Air Quality Consultant, Cundall
“Fantastic event, very interesting presentations! Thank you for the opportunity”
Health & Wellbeing in Buildings Chairman, Building Engineering Services Association
“A great event! Thanks for putting on such a wide range of speakers for us”
Transport Consultant, Integrated Transport Planning
“It was a great event. I enjoyed a lot, learnt new things that I could apply to my role and hope to see you in the future”
Senior Transport Engineer, Dartford Borough Council/Area Manager (South East) – Highways and Transportation, Waterman Aspen
“Thank you for inviting us. We enjoyed the session and learnt a lot”
Research Associate, University of Cambridge – Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research
“A very good event, relevant to my work and all of the roundtables were valuable in different ways”
Smart Cities Project Manager and Clean Tech City Lead, Westminster City Council
“A thoroughly informative and enjoyable experience – will be recommending to colleagues! Found all presentations and application areas useful. Monitoring networks, lessons learned and high level policy of particular interest”
Principal Air Quality Consultant, Cundall
“Thank you for a very helpful and informative event. The Smart Class was perfect! Lovely number of people, expert presentations highlighted the importance of central support and data collection, and all of the roundtables were equally valuable”
Senior Transport Planning & Infrastructure Officer, Essex County Council
“HS2 presentation a great example of all that was discussed being put into actual practice, very well presented and a relevant interesting topic. The roundtables were informative, questioning the expert speakers further”
Air Quality Officer, City of London Corporation
“Camera enforcement options, green walls and Hammersmith & Fulham comparisons were of particular interest”
Environmental Health Enforcement Officer, LB Waltham Forest
“All of the presentations and roundtables were good. Most valuable to hear how the City of London is addressing Air Quality issues and to understand the hyper-local air quality deployment model”
Strategy and Partnerships Manager, Smart Cambridge Programme, Cambridgeshire County Council
“Many thanks for inviting me to the event which I found really informative”
Senior Environmental Advisor, Highways England
“All of the presentations and roundtables included good, interesting content. The Hammersmith & Fulham case study info was especially valuable. Also had a great chat about green walls!”
Sponsor Manager for Regional Programmes, Transport for London
“Very happy with my first Smart Class, fingers crossed I will be at another one in the next 3-6 months: very impressed!”
Principal Transport Planner, Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
“A useful model for delivery – I like the focus on practitioners and sharing experience. All of the presentations were relevant and related to issues I am currently trying to address”
Head of Environment, Eastleigh Borough Council
“All in all an excellent event!”
Environmental Protection Team Leader, Warwick District Council
“Very informative and useful. Format perfect!”
Phase 1 Air Quality Lead, HS2
“All presentations were interesting as they showed ways to monitor and efficiently mitigate air pollutants. All of the roundtables were valuable too, speakers knew their subjects and responded to our questions well. This was a really interesting event and I found it beneficial as a LA officer and individual”
Scientific Officer, Environmental Health, LB Barnet
“I’m interested in local government interventions and what can be done by councils to drive and coordinate change. A stimulating event which increased my overview of the subject. Thank you”
Councillor, Royal Leamington Spa Town Council
“Excellent event, very well organised, good pace, great range of contributors and well balanced. Has given me a lot of opportunities to follow up!”
Head of New Products, Unipart Rail
“Lovely people and interesting discussions”
Environment Manager, CrossCountry Trains
“Good to receive information and advice from practitioners and experts in one place. All the presentations and roundtables were very interesting”
Connectivity Strategy Manager, Staffordshire County Council
“A great event to meet key thinkers in your field”
Research Technician Air Quality, University of Birmingham/WM-Air Project
“Good to meet you yesterday. I enjoyed the meeting and made some useful links”
Professor of Atmospheric Science/Head of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham and WM-Air Project Lead
“All the roundtables were useful and all of the presentations were interesting too”
Sustainability Officer, LB Camden
“Smart Classes are doing a fantastic job of bringing together experts and those interested in ‘Smart’ solutions. Thanks for yet another great event, I really enjoyed the sessions! Smart Classes offer a great opportunity to stay up to date with the latest technologies and concepts in the infrastructure arena”
Partner, London Climate Change Partnership; Chair, Thames Estuary Partnership; and Founder, Plan for Earth
“An interesting and informative morning. Thank you!”
Air Quality Officer, City of London Corporation
“Thank you for holding these classes. Very informative, great for networking and all of the roundtables added value”
Functional Excellence Engineer, Cummins
“All of the roundtables were good”
Strategy Director, Bus, National Express
“A really interesting morning”
Director of Policy Development, Confederation of Passenger Transport
“The presentations provided a good learning experience and overview into the activities conducted. Great insights into programmes and good conversations during the roundtables”
National Networks Programme Coordinator, Advanced Propulsion Centre UK
“An excellent and useful event”
Project Manager – Sustainable Energy & Air Quality, Leeds City Council
“A Friday well spent in Leeds at the Emissions & Air Quality Smart Class. Really informative keynotes from Leeds University, Leeds Beckett, Leeds City Council and HS2. Great discussions around the decarbonisation of transport, EV charging, eliminating diesel in construction, learning from our urban environment using living labs and how we can use hyperlocal data to improve air quality. Thanks to Smart Classes for organising”
Transport Development Analyst, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
“Great event – looking forward to the next one!”
Senior Project Engineer, Derbyshire County Council
“Thanks very much for inviting me and Daniel to the session on Friday. It was really well structured and informative! Great networking too!”
Senior Environmental Health Officer, Selby District Council
“Thank you, it was a great day!”
Environmental Health Technician, Selby District Council
“Met my expectations and all of the presentations were useful”
First Route Project Manager, Coventry Very Light Rail at Coventry City Council
“Very impressed! Interesting presentations, productive conversations and less of the ‘fluff’ of many events. Thanks for an engaging event on Friday – I really enjoyed the format and content and will certainly be recommending future events to colleagues”
Environmental Consultant, Mott MacDonald
“A pleasure to speak at Smart Classes’ Emissions & Air Quality North today on Living labs, collaboration and partnerships for the goals alongside Jim Parker. Some great keynotes and innovators to connect with and learn from, and hopefully some opportunities to work together soon!”
Sustainability Manager, University of Leeds
“Thank you very much. It was a fantastic meeting”
Research Officer, Leeds Sustainability Institute at Leeds Beckett University
“A great event in London today…Fantastic to be in the room again, seeing people face-to-face and safely!”
Managing Director & Co-founder, Vortex IoT (Innovation Sponsor)
“Excellent event today guys. I look forward to working with you again”
Managing Director & Co-founder, Vortex IoT (Innovation Sponsor)
“Great day and, as always, lively debate”
Managing Director, Imperial (Innovation Sponsor)
“Thank you Smart Classes!”
Chief Operating Officer, Hawa Dawa (Innovation Sponsor)
“Thanks for having me last Thursday, it was an interesting day with lots to learn. I also managed to use some of what I learnt in my presentation on Friday!”
Business Development Director, Scotscape (Innovation Sponsor)
“Thank you – a very helpful event”
Principal Urban Environment Consultant, ANS Global (Innovation Sponsor)
“Delighted to take part”
Brightly Software (Innovation Sponsor)
“Great event today, thank you”
Commercial Director, Vortex IoT, part of Marston Holdings (Innovation Sponsor)
“Thank you for bringing us all together today…and thanks to everyone for all the interesting insights. It really was a great event!”
International Business Development Manager, ioki – a DB company (Innovation Sponsor)
“It was a pleasure to meet you last week at our first Smart Class. We really enjoyed it and had some great discussions during the roundtable format”
International Sales & Business Development Manager, ioki – a DB company (Innovation Sponsor)
“Well worthwhile – thank you! Good connections made at all of the roundtables and great follow up agreed with a number of attendees”
Executive Chairman, Slingshot Simulations (Innovation Sponsor)
“Great experience speaking on Friday at the 2022 Emissions & Air Quality Smart Class North, discussing the role graph technology and digital twins can play in Leeds City’s target to reach net zero by 2030”
Application Engineer, Slingshot Simulations (Innovation Sponsor)
“Great event, thanks!”
COO, Slingshot Simulations (Innovation Sponsor)
“Happy clean air day! What better way to celebrate than a train up to Leeds to present at an emissions and air quality smart class tomorrow!”
Director of Environment, Marston Holdings (Innovation Sponsor)
“Great engagement in Leeds last month at EMISSIONS & AIR QUALITY Smart Class, North 2022”
Founder & CEO, ZiggyTec (Innovation Sponsor)
“Great event, great speakers, great networking, lots of examples of the co-benefits of aligning air quality and climate adaption projects”
Director of Environment at Marston Holdings & Head of Commercial at Vortex (Innovation Sponsor)
“Thanks so much, it was a great event! Really enjoyed. We’ll definitely be back”
Technical Presales Consultant, Vortex (Innovation Sponsor)
“Always a pleasure working with Mark and Harriet”
Senior Director for EMEA Client Services Centre, Brightly – a Siemens Company (Innovation Sponsor)
“Thank you so much for a fantastic session today. It was a great mix of people and you have struck an excellent balance with these classes. As a sponsor, it was great to engage with the audience on a peer to peer level and hold open discussions with everyone”
Managing Director, We Care 4 Air (Innovation Sponsor)
“What a great event and day, thank you! The content around Air Quality was top quality, and the insights and discussions from the roundtables were a great opportunity to debate the air quality challenges. Featured amazing speakers and the industry representatives and local authorities were keen to learn and understand more about air quality. Unlike the usual 5-minute investor pitches, I was given the time to be able to explain how our tech and innovation are enabling change and reductions in air pollution, which was a joy!”
Founder & CEO, EMSOL (Innovation Sponsor)
“EMSOL was proud to support the EMISSIONS & AIR QUALITY Smart Classes 2024 last week. It was an insightful filled with thought-provoking presentations and engaging discussions on tackling air pollution and promoting public health. A big thank you to Smart Classes for organising such a fantastic event and to all the speakers and attendees for the valuable insights and knowledge sharing!”
Marketing Team, EMSOL (Innovation Sponsor)
“Hyperlocal air quality monitoring does not clean the air on its own. But it gives you the ability to find ways to reduce pollution locally. Nicholas Ruxton-Boyle explained the value of traffic restrictions on School Streets as one example of reducing pollution at last week’s Smart Classes”
Marketing Team, Vortex, part of Marston Holdings (Innovation Sponsor)
“We thought it was a really valuable event and enjoyed speaking to the other delegates on the roundtables”
Project Manager – Behaviour Change Team, Sustrans (Innovation Sponsor)
“Fantastic Smart Classes yesterday discussing Emissions & Air Quality. Our very own Alison Litherland from Sustrans London delivered a brilliant solution led, community centric, fact and experience based presentation about Behaviour Change interventions. As a team we also held roundtables, with brilliant discussions around inclusive, meaningful and impactful people centred positive change. Well done to everyone who joined the class! Thank you for organising – it was brilliant!”
Business Development Officer, Sustrans (Innovation Sponsor)
Speakers
“Creating a Shared Purpose to Tackle Poor Air Quality: The West Midlands Air Quality Framework” – In November 2022, the West Midlands Combined Authority Board signed off on a regional ‘Air Quality Framework’. This was the culmination of a significant amount of work by regional stakeholders to develop a plan containing a possible 243 actions for tackling air quality. These range from simple changes in communication, through to structural transitions required by transport and industry.
This keynote presentation from Jackie Homan (WMCA Head of Environment) and Elle Winning (WMCA Air Quality Project Lead) will cover how and why the Framework came together; early delivery success, supported by grant funding from Defra and DLUHC; and, what the next steps are for tackling air pollution and inequality of exposure across the region.
“Clean Air, Healthy Lives: The Role of Transport Policy in Leicestershire” – Ann Carruthers is President of ADEPT, Director of Environment and Transport at Leicestershire County Council, and Chair of Midlands Highway Alliance Plus.
Ann will team up for this keynote presentation with Ben Simm, Leicestershire County Council’s Team Manager for Transport Strategy & Policy, to set out the role of Leicestershire’s new Local Transport Plan, LTP4, to empower transport as an enabler, and improve air quality to better the environment and the health and well-being of our communities.
“Improving Air Quality in Greater Manchester” – Megan Black is Head of Logistics & Environment at Transport for Greater Manchester. She leads the development and delivery of freight, logistics, environmental and air quality activities, in support of Greater Manchester’s objectives and strategies.
TfGM coordinate air quality work across the city-region in conjunction with all 10 GM local authorities. In this keynote, Megan will outline how transport initiatives and strategies are helping to achieve the goal of improving the air that Greater Manchester breathes.
The scope of Megan’s presentation includes: Building the Bee Network, TfGM Air Quality responsibilities, GM Transport Strategy 2040, Local Transport Plan Vision, Greater Manchester 5-Year Environment Plan 2025-2030, GM’s Air Quality Action Plan, GM’s recently approved Investment Led Clean Air Plan, Bee Network Buses, EV and Charging Infrastructure, Monitoring Electric Travel, Zero Emission Journey Tracker, Local Traffic Management, Bee Network Greener Future, Active Travel Mission, and Clean Air GM Website.
“TripSwitch: The Role of Behaviour Change in Decarbonising Transport” – In this innovator thought leadership presentation by Integrated Transport Planning, delegates will discover how innovative travel planning initiatives can successfully promote behaviour change and a shift to more sustainable options.
Giles Lipscombe (Principal Consultant) and Louise Twinning (Transport Planning Consultant) will share insights from ITP’s work in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands Gateway, and Edgbaston Stadium, showcasing how co-design and comprehensive outreach are key to achieving impactful results.
Learn how we calculate greenhouse gas and air pollution savings, so you can demonstrate your progress in reducing environmental impacts!
Dr Mark Dimond (Associate) will join Giles and Louise after their presentation to host deeper dive roundtable discussions.
“Low-Cost Sensor Monitoring: Understanding and Reducing Measurement Uncertainty” – Tim Bevington (Principal Air Quality Consultant) will explain in this presentation how Ricardo is applying its world-leading expertise in air quality measurement to enable local authorities across Greater Manchester to monitor the contribution to air pollution from wood burning stoves, raise public awareness of its risks, and reduce its impact on people’s health.
On behalf of TfGM, 43 low-cost sensors (LCS) are deployed across 41 monitoring locations, monitoring PM2.5, PM10, NO2, NO, CO and O3. Ten of the 43 devices also monitor CO2. Over the monitoring period two winter behaviour change marketing campaigns will be run, specifically aimed at reducing emissions from domestic burning. The LCS network is critical in evidencing that the behaviour change campaign is having an impact on concentrations in the region.
An understanding of data quality and uncertainty is required to enable evaluation of air pollution interventions. Ricardo’s LCS QA/QC methodology, through co-location correction scaling, regional scaling, and data ratification, will provide an improved particulate measurement uncertainty. Three further sensors are continuously co-located at a reference site to understand on-going performance. Four LCS are installed in each borough, with two in locations with a high number of wood burning stoves and two in locations where domestic burning is known to be less likely. Rigorous data will enable researchers to better understand the different concentrations of air pollution and evaluate policy impact.
Tim will be accompanied during the roundtables by Jo Solan (Senior Consultant in Ricardo’s air quality measurement team).
“Using Machine Learning to Quantify Air Quality Improvements from Transport Interventions” – Poor air quality often coincides with the place and times where more people are likely to be exposed to it. Efforts to measure the effectiveness of interventions to reduce air pollution must account for changes in concentrations due to external factors, such as changes in weather and background pollutant concentrations. In this talk on behalf of University of Leicester, Lilli Helps (PhD Researcher) will discuss how machine learning can be applied to help achieve this:
“Models are trained on data from before the intervention begins, but for an effective model you need the right parameters to be measured and hyperparameters need tuning. Once made, these models allow us to emulate what the concentrations would have been if there was no intervention. By calculating the difference between this modelled concentration, and measurements made after the intervention, we can understand what effect it has had”.
Thanks to our Lunch Networking Sponsor, Green Valley Group 🙂
Founded in 2017, GVG is a leading asset management, data consultancy and technical services company.
Contact their experts to discover how data management can enhance the green credentials of assets to help reduce carbon emissions!
Key contacts:
Agenda
- 8:30 am - 9:00 am Registration, Networking and Continental Breakfast
- 9:00 am - 9:30 am Introduction and Opening Keynote
- 9:30 am - 10:40 am Expert Innovator Presentations
- 10:40 am - 11:00 am Keynote Speaker 2
- 11:00 am - 12:40 pm Roundtable Discussions and Consultations
- 12:40 pm - 1:00 pm Keynote Speaker 3
- 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm Close and Lunch Networking
