GUIDING QUESTIONS for the Working Groups

Working Group 1: Air quality management strategies and effective measures to reduce air pollution

1. Most Effective Strategies: Which strategies have proven most effective in reducing pollutants such as PM10, and PM2.5, NO₂, ozone, VOCs, NH3, SO₂,? How did this impact the development of revised Air Quality Plans? Was there an impact of lessons learned on the National Air Pollution Control Programmes?
2. New Technologies: What kind of new technologies would help achieve the limit values set by the new Air Quality Directive, which will apply from 2030, and/or emission reduction commitments that apply starting from 2030 based on the National Emission Reduction Commitments Directive? Could artificial intelligence and machine learning be part of the solution? In what ways could they play a role?
3. Remote Sensing: How can remote sensing contribute to assessing the impact of local measures (e.g., traffic restrictions, industrial changes) and provide timely warning on pollution peaks? What technical or cost-related barriers limit the use of these technologies? From the experience of the projects, where can this technology best contribute to improve monitoring and planning, i.e where do you see their biggest potential (pollutant, geography, season/weather/climate, …?
4. Maximizing data synergy. How can we leverage the full spectrum of air-quality data sources—including Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-5 observations, ground-based sensors, and predictive modelling—to strengthen the implementation of local and regional air-quality plans, ensure that real-time information effectively reaches policymakers and citizens, and uncover pollution sources that would otherwise remain undetected? Can you share concrete examples where Earth observation has helped, or could have helped identify previously undetected pollution sources?

Working Group 2: Public access to information

1. Communicating Alerts and Emerging Technologies: In your opinion, what are the most effective ways to raise public awareness when there is a risk of exceedance of one or more alert thresholds, including communicating potential health impacts? What communication channels (digital, in-person, intermediaries, etc.) have proven most effective in building trust and engagement on air quality issues? What emerging technologies (apps, low-cost sensors, dashboards, AI-driven alerts) hold the greatest potential for real-time air quality communication? How do you prevent information/alert fatigue?
2. Making Air Pollution relatable and inclusive. What strategies can make air pollution and its health consequences more relatable to diverse populations? Which groups or communities remain underrepresented in current participation processes, and how can they be better included? Can citizen science initiatives facilitate this and be scaled up to meaningfully contribute to data collection and decision-making? How can the healthcare sector be effectively mobilised? How to fight against misinformation?
3. Key stages for citizen engagement. At which stages of the air quality action-plan cycle (design, implementation, monitoring, revision) is citizen engagement most impactful, and why? How can action plans incorporate feedback loops that allow citizens to see how their input influences decisions? How to engage with critical or opposing citizen groups?