EnvironmentAl integrated, multilevel knoWledge and approaches to counteract critical AIR pollution events, improving vulnerable citizens quality of life in Central Europe Functional Urban Areas
Air pollution is both an environmental & a social problem and is considered a common challenge for CE territories in particular dealing with Severe Air Pollution Episodes.AWAIR aims at improving environmental management capacity in CE through  promotion&adoption of agreed measures&strategies able to reduce SAPEs impacts on environment & human health in particular of vulnerable people.Transnational approach to a transnational problem with a local application, AWAIR answers to the lack of coordination of environmental policies between core urban areas and their surroundings: it defines a common,transnational approach for Mitigation&Adaptation actions’management at Funtional Urban Area that will be used as framework for each FUA at local level.Those potential M&A actions can be of different kind,depending on identified characteristics of FUA, translated in ad hoc action plans.Screening of novel solutions & tools is conducted at wide scientific level (BAT) & at EU funded projects level. Specific monitoring tools of the effectiveness of actions at each FUA are foreseen. AWAIR also aims at promoting innovative preventive approach with introduction of new indicators (e.g. ultrafine particles, black carbon) & inclusion of air quality forecasting systems among actions established for health effect’s prevention during SAPEs.The whole project is inspired by a participative approach,since project conceiving,of stakeholders involvement,that foresees feedbacks and inputs from them.AWAIR organises ad hoc stakeholder plans to deeply identify, address &reach each category of them in a customized way  ensuring knowledge transfer at wider level: other FUAs, cities in CE &EU(spread FUA model), local administrators&representative from vulnerable groups (guidelines&trainings) &vulnerable citizens (alert system).Pervasive,wide-ranging communication is structured to guarantee maximum AWAIR visibility& information on opportunities in FUA-cities but also for other citizens in other cities