EDIAQI Project Meeting: Driving Collaboration in Seville
On the 19th of November, the EDIAQI consortium convened for a project meeting in the vibrant city of Seville, hosted by the University of Seville’s School of Architecture. The meeting took place the day before the Comfort at The Extremes 2024 conference and provided an opportunity for partners to take stock of progress, address ongoing challenges, and realign on shared goals.
Strengthening Collaboration Across Europe:
Regular touch points such as this project meeting play a crucial role in the success of EDIAQI, a pan-European initiative. These gatherings facilitate collaboration, allow for cross-fertilisation of ideas, and ensure that all partners remain aligned in their contributions toward project milestones. Sharing knowledge and learning together is at the heart of EDIAQI, strengthening the shared mission to create a less polluted and healthier Europe.
Key Outcomes of the Project Meeting:
The meeting in Seville was highly productive, leading to several important outcomes:
- EDIAQI pilots and campaigns are in full operation: The long-term pilots and short-term measurements campaigns have been fully implemented and are currently gathering valuable data on indoor air quality in various buildings in different cities throughout Europe. In total, 170 sensors have been installed in 67 different buildings. The analysis of this data will be taking place in 2025.
- Clinical study underway focussing on children with asthma in Zagreb, Croatia: 207 children with asthma have been recruited to gain a better insight into the effect of indoor air pollution on specific asthma and allergy phenotypes. Activities include routine diagnostics (in vitro tests, allergy tests, blood sample collection), transcriptomics, buccal cell samples collection, questionnaires, microbiome and IAQ measurements at home.
- Active collaboration with the IDEAL Cluster: The EDIAQI team are participating actively in the IDEAL cluster, a group of seven research projects that are tackling different challenges related to indoor air pollution. As part of this collaboration, the consortium confirmed plans to utilise indoor air quality data from these projects, to enrich the data in the EDIAQI project platform and tools, such as the simulation tool.
- Plan to use Educational Resources to Drive Public Awareness: The consortium announced plans to disseminate the comprehensive educational materials for children and adolescents developed by the University of Seville, featuring training exercises, course books, diplomas, and educational videos.
- Framework for Sustainability and Legacy: A framework was established to ensure the long-term impact of EDIAQI’s outputs. This includes exploring the creation of a non-profit organisation to maintain IAQ guidelines and resources, such as the Wiki and the Simulation Tool, fostering continuity and ongoing contributions to healthier indoor environments.
Conclusion:
The project meeting in Seville underscored the importance of these collaborative touch points in a project like EDIAQI which seeks pan-European impact. By coming together to share knowledge, address challenges, and reaffirm our collective vision, the consortium strengthens its capacity to drive impactful change across Europe. The outcomes of this meeting serve as a testament to the power of collaboration, something we strongly believe is essential to foster healthier and more sustainable indoor environments for all.