– The Self-Government of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship is undertaking a range of measures that ultimately improve air quality in the region. These include using EU funds for the thermal modernization of residential buildings, purchasing low-emission buses for public transport, and buying modern, environmentally friendly electric trains. Our goal is to reduce air pollution levels throughout the voivodeship, which will have a positive impact on the quality of life and health of residents – explains Marshal Cezary Przybylski.
The two-metre-tall model traveling around Lower Silesia is a special model of human lungs. It was made of permeable material that imitates human breathing by filtering air. The experiment makes it possible to observe the actual level of pollution in the air we breathe. Lower Silesia began its fight to improve air quality several years ago. In 2017, thanks to the work of experts from, among others, the Institute of Territorial Development and Dolnośląski Alarm Smogowy, as well as consultations held throughout the region, a plan to combat smog was created. Anti-smog resolutions were prepared and subsequently adopted by the Lower Silesian Voivodeship Assembly. This was a compromise between the expectations of many social groups, including environmentalists and the voivodeship’s residents. Their aim was to effectively fight for cleaner air and a better quality of life for Lower Silesia’s residents by eliminating the lowest-quality fuels and gradually withdrawing low-class heating systems.
– It is no coincidence that this year’s inauguration of the mobile lungs is not taking place in the center of the town, in the market square, but in a seemingly green housing estate. In many places in our country, beautiful houses are heated in an ugly way – notes Krzysztof Smolnicki from Dolnośląski Alarm Smogowy. – Our lungs have also been placed symbolically by the church, referring to the “God gives life – smog takes it away” campaign organized by the Global Catholic Climate Movement and Polski Alarm Smogowy – he adds.
The fight for clean air has in recent years been one of the most important priorities of both the European Union and the Self-Government of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. Since 2014, more than PLN 2 billion has been allocated for this purpose, with as much as 85 percent coming from the Regional Operational Programme of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. The remaining amount consists mainly of local-government and national funds. These efforts are producing visible results, as air pollution levels are falling year by year.
That is why the voivodeship authorities are intensifying their activities related to the educational and information campaign “Clean Rules”. Its aim is to remind the voivodeship’s residents of the obligations arising from the anti-smog resolutions adopted in 2017 and to raise awareness of the harmful effects of polluted air on health and the environment.