National Air Quality Conference: date, venue announced

Our sister publication, Air Quality News, have announced that the 2024 National Air Quality Conference will take place on Wednesday 6th November and, for the first time, will be held at London’s Prospero House.

Prospero House is located near London Bridge, directly opposite Borough Station.

This year’s event will be the fifth national conference and, as ever, it will bring together some of the most important policymakers and academics who are working on solutions to the challenges created by air pollution and clean air provision.

The exhibition will also profile organisations who are offering solutions to the challenges faced in delivering improved air quality.

Super Early Bird tickets are now on sale but they are limited in number. Use the form on this page to make the most of these best-value tickets.

The first speakers have also been announced:

Simon Birkett, Clean Air in London

Simon Birkett is the Founder and Director of Clean Air in London. He has championed full compliance with the World Health Organisation’s most recent air quality guidelines since 2006 to protect public health and the climate.  Simon was the first and only air pollution stakeholder on UNEP’s High Level Inter-Governmental and Stakeholder Advisory Group for its Sixth Global Environment Outlook between 2015 and 2019.  This was the top steering group for the United Nations’ most comprehensive report on the global environment since 2012. 

Fiona Coull, Cross River Partnership

Prior to working at Cross River Partnership (CRP), Fiona worked as a consultant on several sustainable transport and Air Quality projects, including the Mayor’s School Air Quality Audit Programme, an initiative aimed at reducing emissions and exposure at 50 primary schools in some of London’s most polluted areas.

Fiona manages CRP’s Smarter Greener Logistics programme, a Defra-funded project that aims to minimise the impact of freight on noise, air quality, traffic and pavement space in London by making improvements across 14 London boroughs and two London Business Improvement Districts. The programme also involves increasing the viability of river freight.

Diana Varaden, Imperial College London

With a decade of experience in participatory research, Dr Varaden has led numerous citizen science projects, including the successful Breathe London wearables study, which actively engaged children in research, enabling the collection of a large and unique data set. It simultaneously increased children’s awareness of air pollution, fostering positive changes in their behaviours to reduce exposure.

Dr Varaden is currently deeply involved in the development and delivery of the engagement, involvement, and participatory strategy for the WellHome study, a community-based research project dedicated to investigating indoor air pollution. Her work underscores the importance of involving non-experts in research and promoting public engagement in health and environmental issues.

Nick Ruxton-Boyle, Director of Environment, Marston Holdings

Nick is a chartered transport planner and urban mobility expert with significant professional experience spanning strategic planning to concept design and has gained a wealth of experience in both the public and private sector throughout his career. Nick was head of transport at the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Technical Director at Project Centre and is currently now Director of Environment at Marston Holdings. He is chair of the editorial panel at the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation. An urbanist, Nick is passionate about the role transport can play in the environment, the economy and society and is currently working on a wide range of air quality projects.

During his presentation Nick will be joined by a local authority partner to outline a detailed air quality joint project ..further details to be announced.

AQN are also in the process of acquiring experts for their traditional panel session.

If you have not attended once of the conferences before, you can find a report on last year’s National Conference here, while below is a short montage of the Northern Air Quality Conference held in Manchester in March.