Air quality in Helsinki is better than in many other European cities, but airborne impurities cause health effects even here. Our daily choices impact the quality of the air we share in the city. The new website of the Our Shared Air (Yhteinen ilmamme) campaign helps us make more sustainable choices with regard to air quality.
Finland is one of the world leaders in terms of clean air, but almost 2,000 people still die prematurely each year due to cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses caused by air pollution. In Helsinki, too, air pollutant concentrations widely exceed WHO’s new guideline values for air quality. Groups that are particularly sensitive to the health effects of air pollution include children, asthma patients of all ages, and seniors with coronary artery disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. That said, air quality affects each and every one of us.
The Our Shared Air campaign, which is scheduled to conclude in April, and the new website related to it provide methods and guidance towards choices all of us can make to improve air quality. The website is open at https://yhteinenilmamme.fi/en/.
“In Helsinki, air quality is weakened by traffic, the small-scale wood burning of households, and street dust. City residents can impact our shared well-being through small changes. Our Shared Air quality serves as an information resource on air quality, which any Helsinki resident can use to find suitable alternatives for protecting air quality in our city,” says Project Expert Jukka Limo of the City of Helsinki.
The Healthy Outdoor Premises for Everyone HOPE project, which was funded by the Urban Innovative Action programme of the EU structural funds and run by the City of Helsinki between 2019 and 2022, has worked to create a new way of measuring local air pollution by means of measuring devices developed within the project for city residents to carry with them. In addition to this, the project has involved the development of measurement analytics and engaging residents in measures to improve air quality as well as sustainable choices and modes of transport. Efforts have also been made to build a foundation for new services and business activities by making measurement data available to companies.
Learn more about air quality measurements at the project’s closing event on 17 March
The closing event of the project will be held at Helsinki City Hall’s event square on 17 March 2022, starting at 8:30 am. All those interested in the topic are welcome to participate. The event programme and a registration link can be found on the project’s home page at https://ilmanlaatu.eu/briefly-in-english/
The City of Helsinki’s partners in the HOPE project are the University of Helsinki, Forum Virium Helsinki, Vaisala, Helsinki Region Environmental Services HSY, UseLess Company and the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
News photo: Airquality in Helsinki is relatively good, but airborne impurities cause healtheffects even here. A view from Kalasatama towards the sea in winter. Photo:Janne Hirvonen