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The event entitled Together for Clean Air and Sustainable Energy was organized by the Slovak partner of the LIFE project “Subcarpathian – Live and Breathe”, the Innovation Partnership Center. In June, representatives of local governments, state administration, universities, professional organizations and environmental institutions met in Prešov and its surroundings to discuss the topics of air quality, energy efficiency, energy poverty, climate policies, the functioning of energy communities and environmental education.

During the public part of the program, presentations were made on the current state of air quality in Slovakia and specifically in the Prešov Region, energy efficiency of households and municipalities, energy poverty, support for energy communities, and specific examples of good practice.

Air quality managers from the Prešov Region were also given the opportunity to speak. Dominik Lejko from the Prešov Self-Governing Region presented the LIFE Populair project and the national network of air quality managers to the participants. He paid particular attention to activities aimed at local cooperation and raising public awareness of air protection in the Prešov Region. František Luterančík from the Slovak Environmental Agency informed the audience about the state of air quality in the Prešov Region, pointed out risk areas, and presented strategic measures aimed at improving air quality. These include proposals for solutions in the areas of household heating, transport, and industry.

Adam Kravec from the Air Protection Department of the Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic gave a presentation on air quality and adaptation to climate change. The presentation on air quality in Slovakia also pointed out the connection between this area and climate change, as topics such as heat, dust, ground-level ozone, population health, greenery and the resilience of settlements are encountered in practice mainly at the level of cities and municipalities. The presentation also included a brief overview of Act No. 146/2023 Coll. on air protection from the perspective of the competences of local governments, the possibilities of municipalities and Self-government region in preparing air quality programs, informing the public and implementing measures in the territory. 

The contributions of experts showed that improving air quality is not only a professional and legislative topic, but also a practical issue of health protection, local planning and cooperation between the state, professional organizations, local governments and, last but not least, individual citizens.