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Following a series of methodological days for educators, which were dedicated to the manual on methods of air quality assessment entitled "How we determine what we breathe", representatives of the Slovak Environmental Agency were invited to an educational meeting with educators from the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, who came to the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Matej Bel University as part of an educational exchange stay for educators, this year with the topic of assessing the quality of environmental components with a focus on air and water. During the meeting, the team presented the LIFE IP project – Improving Air Quality (Populair), its purpose, key activities in the field of proper heating, sustainable mobility and building a network of air quality managers.

The meeting also included a presentation of the methodological manual “How we determine what we breathe” and the possibilities of its use in pedagogical practice. The manual serves as a practical tool in the education of various age groups – from kindergarten to university. The publication was created with the aim of expanding the offer of materials for environmental education and training to include the current topic of air pollution and the possibilities of determining its quality. It provides an overview of information on the state of air quality in Slovakia, draws attention to the impact of pollution on human health and presents various methods of monitoring air quality. The publication also includes an introduction to bioindication – a method that uses living organisms to assess the state of the environment.

The participants of the meeting appreciated the manual as an excellent support material for teaching in the field of air protection. We hope that it will bring a lot of inspiration and new stimuli for their pedagogical practice.

The presentation was appreciated not only by the faculty management, but also by the trainees themselves, who expressed interest in several educational and information materials. We are pleased with the growing interest in the topic of air quality. We believe that our meeting was a suitable inspiration for exchange stays also for Czech educators, who in a significant way help to spread awareness among different age groups and also the professional and lay public.