Western Balkan municipalities kick off the development of Local Air Quality Plans under the Clean Air Regions Initiative

After launching the Clean Air Regions Initiative (CARI) at the Just Transition Forum on 30 June 2021, representatives of the participating municipalities¹ have come together for the first two-day workshop to kick off work on developing ambitious local air quality policies and measures in line with the aims of the CARI declaration. 

During the first physical workshop held on 8-9 September 2021 in Szeged, Hungary, participating municipalities exchanged good practices and experience with their EU counterparts, attended trainings on the introduction of measures capable of reducing pollution into the air by addressing the most critical sources of pollution such as domestic heating, industry and traffic. Furthermore, the workshop included presentations on topics such as data collection, public participation and air pollution measurement technologies.

With the knowledge gathered during the first workshop, participating municipalities can start the development of their Local Air Quality Action Plans. The Secretariat and the Western Balkans Green Center (Hungary) will continue to support this process through regular trainings, capacity building, knowledge sharing and networking events throughout 2021.  

^[1] The pioneer signatories of the Clean Air Regions Initiative are the municipalities of Banovići, Kakanj, Lukavac, Maglaj and Tuzla from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Pljevlja from Montenegro, Bitola from North Macedonia and Niš and Novi Sad from Serbia.