The kick-off meeting of the Horizon Europe project “MI-TRAP – MItigating TRansport-related Air Pollution in Europe” took place on February 6, at the National Centre for Scientific Research (NCSR) Demokritos, in Athens. The project aims to tackle the pressing issues of urban air and noise pollution and involves several researchers from Instituto Superior Técnico, which will coordinate its implementation in the city of Lisbon.

The MI-TRAP consortium comprises 26 partners from 10 different countries. MI-TRAP brings together a diverse range of expertise and resources to confront the multifaceted challenges posed by urban pollution. The project will, among other things, develop data analysis tools to track pollutants emitted, enable systematic traffic management and also assess the effectiveness of legislation and control measures put in place.

Two research units affiliated with Técnico are involved in MI-TRAP – the Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability (CERIS) and the Centre for Nuclear Sciences and Technology (C2TN). The CERIS team is coordinated by Ana Galvão, a researcher and professor at Técnico. The ObservAR team, from C2TN, is coordinated by Marta Almeida, a researcher at C2TN and Vice-president of Técnico for CTN Campus.

“By identifying measures to improve air quality in 10 European cities, this project will play a crucial role in protecting public health, preserving the environment, combating climate change, promoting sustainable mobility, and economic and social development”, says Marta Almeida. The researcher gives some examples of C2TN initiatives related to MI-TRAP, including ExpoLIS (real-time assessment of air quality in public transport), iMPact (study of microplastic particles from road traffic) and InChildHealth (identification of determinants for indoor air quality in environments occupied by school children).