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As part of its activities, the Ekotopfilm festival does not only offer its visitors films with an environmental focus, as the name might suggest. It is an event that also provides space for fruitful discussions, where experts from various fields bring interesting topics closer to the public. Air quality, proper principles of heating, monitoring of pollutants and emissions from transport were discussed last week in Banská Bystrica and in Bratislava, and the LIFE IP project - Improving air quality was there.

Clean air is a basic prerequisite for creating a healthy environment for the life of people, ecosystems and for the proper functioning of all components of the environment. On the contrary, air pollution is among the greatest environmental risks and is one of the main causes of death and disease worldwide. The member states of the United Nations are trying to point out this fact and therefore declared September 7 as the World Day of Clean Air and Blue Sky.

We all learn new knowledge throughout our lives. It is important to convey new information to all age categories. We decided to convey such an important message, about air protection, to children from two elementary schools at the end of the school year.

From the point of view of air protection and its management, the Slovak Republic is divided into zones and agglomerations. The city of Bratislava represents an agglomeration, defined by the borders of the capital of the Slovak Republic and at the same time is also an air quality management area based on the assessment of air quality in the Slovak Republic, commissioned by the organization of the Ministry of the Environment, which is the Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute.

The program of economic and social development of the town Ivanka pri Dunaji defines transport as one of the main problems and burdens for the town. The results of air quality monitoring should contribute to addressing air protection and the unsustainable traffic situation. Air quality managers for the Bratislava Region gave a helping hand in identifying the hotspot and installing a mobile monitoring station in Ivanka pri Dunaji.

Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change.

The United Nations has declared the Interantional Day of Clean Air on September 7. On this day, Member States are drawing attention to measures to improve air quality. This year's motto of the campaign is "Healthy air, a healthy planet". The Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic is responding to the deteriorating air quality with the prepared changes in legislation, financial instruments to support the improvement of air quality and awareness raising activities.

The Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMI) is currently installing new automatic monitoring stations (AMS) in localities not yet covered by monitoring as part of the project Improving the National Air Quality Monitoring Network.

In connection with strict measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, reports of significant improvements in air quality spread around the world last year. The reason for the decrease in concentrations of nitrogen dioxide in the air was mainly due to the restriction in mobility. However, with the relaxation of measures, air quality is returning to the old ways. This is evidenced by footage from the Copernicus program.

The aim of the LIFE IP – Air Quality Improvement project  is to improve the implementation of programs to improve air quality in Slovakia. In this context, the positions of regional air quality managers have been established, who are currently working with representatives of state and local authorities to prepare new air quality management plans.