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The European Commission will host the Fifth EU Clean Air Forum on 1–2 December 2025 at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany. The Forum will bring together policymakers, scientists, industry, and civil society to discuss Europe’s progress on clean air, the implementation of the revised Ambient Air Quality Directive, and innovation for healthier, more competitive economies. The sessions will cover the following topics: Earth observation and clean air Artificial intelligence and machine learning for air quality analysis Clean air innovation and investments for a competitive Europe Do our policies work? Evaluation of the NEC Directive Regional action on clean air Super pollutants – bad for the climate and bad for the air Improving how we talk about clean air and health in cities A draft agenda is available here: Fifth EU Clean Air Forum Agenda The  event will be in both online and onsite format. Registration is still open here

On September 29th, 2025, RI-URBANS hosted a highly engaging webinar on Source Apportionment, bringing together over 200 participants from across Europe and beyond. The session highlighted innovative tools and strategies to identify and quantify pollution sources in urban environments as an essential step toward improving air quality and public health. The webinar featured contributions from leading experts in the field, who presented different approaches to source apportionment, including: 24h resolution PM chemistry data High-time resolution organic aerosol measurement High-time resolution trace elements measurements Comparisons of datasets with different time resolutions Black Carbon source apportionment Ultrafine Particles source apportionment Oxidative Potential source apportionment VOC source apportionment The event concluded with a lively Q&A session, where participants had the opportunity to exchange ideas directly with the speakers. The full recording of the webinar is now available here

For the first time, ACTRIS and RI-URBANS have joined forces to harmonize how scientists measure the oxidative potential (OP) of airborne particles which is a health-relevant metric that quantifies how particulate matter can trigger oxidative stress in the lungs. Within RI-URBANS, European researchers worked together to adopt simplified harmonized protocols. In 2023, an intercomparison exercise for the DTT method involved 18 labs globally; results were processed by the European Joint Research Centre (JRC). The next step, launched in early 2025, focused on the AA (ascorbic acid ) assay: 26 laboratories tested five common samples under the harmonized procedure, also comparing against their own “home” AA method. The DTT (dithiothreitol) method was included for cross-comparison. Next steps ACTRIS and RI-URBANS partners are now investigating sources of remaining discrepancies. A third stage will revisit the simplified DTT protocol to assess progress. Ultimately, these efforts aim to have OP included as a labelled ACTRIS variable, serving both research and operational air-quality/health applications. see more details on ACTRIS For more details: contact gaelle.uzu@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr or anouk.marsal@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr.

RI-URBANS is pleased to announce that Urban Mapping webinar on 19th September, 2025 brought together around 80 participants for an insightful discussion on innovative approaches to urban air quality monitoring. The session featured presentations from RI-URBANS experts across Europe and introduced Service Tool (ST13), showcasing both mobile and stationary mapping methods—with and without citizen participation—as well as the use of AI to unify monitoring data. The full recording of the webinar is now available here  

The RI-URBANS Project Coordinators, Xavier Querol (CSIC) and Tuukka Petäjä (UHEL), in collaboration with ACTRIS ERIC, hosted the Final RI-URBANS Stakeholder Webinar on Wednesday, 10 September 2025. The event was held online and gathered a wide range of stakeholders in urban air quality research and management. The webinar presented the final results of the RI-URBANS project, with a strong focus on the Service Tools (STs) developed and the added value they bring to urban air quality monitoring and decision-making. Highlights from the agenda: Concept & results from RI-URBANS Service Tools – Xavier Querol (CSIC) & Tuukka Petäjä (UHEL) The role of ACTRIS in implementing Service Tools – Tuukka Petäjä (ACTRIS-ERIC) Supporting publication of Guidance Documents – Martin Powell (AXA Research Fund) Urban mapping tools and site representativity – Martine Van Poppel (VITO) Measurements of oxidative potential – Gaëlle Uzu (CNRS-IRD) Health effects of emerging pollutants – Ioar Rivas (CSIC-ISGlobal) Modelling of new pollutants – Augustin Colette (INERIS) & Maria Kanakidou (FORTH) The event concluded with an open discussion, providing participants with the opportunity to reflect on the key insights and findings, the real-world applications of the Service Tools, and the pathways for future collaboration and stakeholder engagement. The event was recorded and you could access the video here

  The Final RI-URBANS Science Meeting  took place in Barcelona, Spain on September 8-9, 2025, bringing together 56 onsite and 40 online attendees from 55 institutions worldwide, including notable organizations such as DG ENV-ECWHO, ACTRIS, and IAGOS,. Over two days, researchers, partners, and experts discussed the project’s key results and explore their significance for the future of urban air quality and health.  Highlights of the two days meeting Inspiring plenary talks from the European Commission, WHO, and ACTRIS on implementation of new pollutants in the new Air Quality Directive Presentations of the final RI-URBANS Work Package results, covering air pollution sources, data, and how project outcomes will continue making an impact beyond RI-URBANS. Focus on the 16 Service Tools (STs) – addressing ultrafine particles, black carbon, health effects, emission inventories, modelling, urban mapping, and citizen science. A warped up discussions on how member states are building supersites to integrate science based knowledge into European air quality management.   Note: The presentations's slides will be soon available online on RI-URBANS website.  

This session will focus on tools and strategies for Source Apportionment, helping identify and quantify pollution sources in urban environments. Details and speakers will be announced soon. Date: September 29th, 10:00-12:00 CEST Format: Online (Zoom-Link) Agenda is as follow, you could also find it here 10:00- 10:05    Introduction by project coordinators (Xavier Querol) 10:05 - 10:15    Source apportionment based on 24h resolution PM chemistry data (Fulvio Amato) 10:15 - 10:25    Source apportionment based on high-time resolution organic aerosol measurement (Marta Vía) 10:25 - 10:35    Source apportionment based on high-time resolution trace elements measurements (Mannos Manousaka) 10:35 - 10:45    Source apportionment based on datasets with different time-resolution (Marta Vía) 10:45 - 10:55   BC source apportionment (Marjan savadkoohi) 10:55 - 11:05    UFP source apportionment (Meritxell García) 11:05 - 11:15     OP source apportionment (Gaëlle Uzu) 11:15 - 11:25    VOC source apportionment (Xavier Querol) 11:25-11:35     Break 11:35 - 12:00 Q&A session  (All)  

RI-URBANS is pleased to invite you to two insightful webinars this September, focusing on innovative approaches in urban air quality monitoring. These sessions will explore state-of-the-art tools and methodologies developed within the RI-URBANS project, with contributions from experts across Europe.   Webinar on Urban Mapping This webinar will showcase Service Tool (ST13), designed to support Urban Mapping activities within the RI-URBANS framework. Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of how different mapping approaches—both mobile and stationary—are used to monitor air quality in urban environments. Date: September 19th, 10:00-12:00 CEST Format: Online (Zoom-link) Agenda: Introduction by project coordinators (5-10 min) RI-URBANS Service Tool for Urban Mapping (ST13) (20 min) Experiences with urban mapping (1 hour) Mobile mapping: Mobile mapping with citizens (20 min) Mobile mapping without citizens (20 min) Combined stationary-mobile approaches (20 min) Interactive part (30 min)

The RI-URBANS Project Coordinators, Xavier Querol (CSIC) and Tuukka Petäjä (UHEL), in collaboration with ACTRIS ERIC, are pleased to invite you to the Final RI-URBANS Stakeholder Webinar, taking place online on Wednesday, 10 September 2025, from 09:00 to 13:00 CEST. This important event will present the final results of the RI-URBANS project, with a special focus on the Service Tools developed and the added value they bring to urban air quality monitoring and management. What to expect: Key insights and findings from the RI-URBANS project A deep dive into the Service Tools and their real-world applications Opportunities for discussion and stakeholder engagement A detailed agenda is available here  We warmly encourage all stakeholders, collaborators, and interested parties to join us for this milestone event. Register here by filling the online form.️Registration deadline: 5 September 2025 You may have have any question, please do not hesitate to contact Marta Monge (marta.monge@idaea.csic.es) and Nahid Atashi (nahid.atashi@helsinki.fi).