The first event of the SAQN took place 14-15 January at the Principal Hotel in York. Over 80 delegates from across the UK joined the event to hear more about the opportunities to tackle air quality challenges. Academics from many universities mixed with representatives from industry and colleagues from across the STFC. Policy organisations also attended, including staff from Defra, the Environment Agency, local councils and Natural England.

Sessions on the first day included information on the wider Air Quality landscape, identifying challenges and opportunities in research, policy, health impacts and industry. Presentations from STFC colleagues then highlighted the breadth and variety of capabilities available across the different locations and facilities.

Network members laughing
Network members talking

The second day began with a look at the funding opportunities available within the network and beyond, with a presentation from UKRI SPF Clean Air and one of their funded projects, QUANT.

Using the information from the presentations, the network then held round table discussions to identify topics of interest, and to post these to an online noticeboard. Over lunch everyone voted on the subjects that were of most interest to them, which were:

  • Ammonia – Challenges and Opportunities
  • Sensors and Miniaturisation
  • Machine Learning
  • Indoor Air Quality Monitoring
  • Integrating Data
  • Behaviour Change
  • Health Effects Monitoring and Data
  • Early Career Researcher Support Network

The meeting concluded with feedback from each discussion, leaving plenty of ideas for consideration by the SAQN and the network members. Presentations from the meeting are available to download.

Thank you to all our presenters and to everyone who attended the launch, gave us their input and made it a great success. Our next annual meeting will take place in Spring 2021. To find out about this and other network events, please join the network.

Photos: Paul Shields, Kevin Smith