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Joe works on the London Schools Pollution Helpdesk, a free to use service tackling air pollution for all London schools. As part of it he's been answering questions, visiting schools and helping people across London take action. In this 5 minute GAP Joe and Clair talk about the wider impacts of schools taking action on air pollution, and what inspires them to try things.

If you want to get help for a London school, visit the London Schools Pollution Helpdesk

 

"We Share Freely". The change we want to see in the world is bigger than we are. So, we're sharing our knowledge, resources and ideas to help more people and organisations take steps forward towards our vision of a green and thriving planet, where everyone can enjoy happy and healthy lives within the Earth's limits.

 

As part of this, we've launched our "5 Minute GAP" series, a collection of five minute conversations that will share how we work and what we're working on. We'll talk about what we're trying to achieve and why, how we function as an organisation, and the thinking behind our plans and strategy.

 

We'll be regularly sharing these conversations, which will feature different members of our team and trustee board, as well as external experts.

 

We hope you enjoy listening in to our chats, getting to know our team and finding out what makes us who we are. 

 

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Audio only version:

 

If you prefer to read rather than watch, the transcription is here: 

 

Joe: I had a really nice experience as well, going to schools that have got school streets in. And so when they've shut the road outside at pick up and drop off 
and just the like nice atmosphere that that creates. And talking to parents who maybe it's not air pollution, that is the thing that they think "ooh, the air pollution's gone down", but it's kind of that nice... it's just much nicer, friendlier experience for the whole school community then. 

So I think it's been really good to see and learn the kind of wider impacts that these interventions can have and then with that be able to then talk to other schools or other parent groups who've come to us and said, "oh, thinking about school street...."  and share some of that, share some of those experiences and also be able to kind of talk them through how they might be able to do it. Yeah. 

Clair: And I think that's so important isn't it? Because so many of the... of all of the projects that we run, we might have like a particular aim in mind when we start creating it, whether it's air pollution or reducing people's purchasing to reduce the actual physical stuff that's being bought or whatever it is that we're looking at in any given project, there are always these spillover effects that have bigger, better impacts on people in addition. So it's never just, Oh, and your air pollution is better, it's oh your air pollution is better, and you get a nice chance to chat to the mums outside the school when you pick your kids up or your kids get to wander around without being worried about being hit by a car or it's always these the knock on effects. 

And obviously we talk about at Global Action Plan, talking about the the link between things that are good for us and things that are good for the planet. And that's really sort of tied up in this so clearly, isn't it, when you've got something like a school street is so positive for the community, giving people the opportunity to create connections and just have a nicer experience and having that positive impact on the air pollution around the school as well. 

Joe: Yeah, yeah, for sure. And I think that's really important framing for the work that we're doing to help this going forward as well, because schools want that nicer environment, nicer experience. They yeah, lots of schools put a lot of value on that, whereas they might not... air pollution might not be in the top of their radar. I think like those sorts of things probably are more important. So bringing it in, yeah, within kind of those sorts of sorts of issues and showing, showing the positives more broadly can be really useful.

It's also like case studies and stuff I suppose, and other schools experiences. So they've seen that the school down the road has done this or that and they want to be able to do some of that or they or it's come up in the curriculum even around some of these issues. I think that's in some ways one of the positives of the Help Desk is that it's that one stop shop really where anyone can get in touch with any kind of questions around air quality and air pollution in London. And we will look to support them however they might need might need supporting. So yeah, I think that's that's been one of the big positives and we're trying, we're looking to yeah, make sure that people across that school community realise they can get in touch, whether that be parents or people who live near a school even who might, yeah, that might be their only connection to the school or anyone from a kind of who works at the school, who is a governor, who is in the PTA. Yeah. To try and make sure it does have that broad, broad approach and is inclusive in that sense. Yeah. 

Clair: I think what you were saying as well about stories is they are so powerful aren't they? Again particularly when it's "yeah, we did this intervention and yes again our air quality improved." That's great. But the stories of "the school near me did a thing. If they can do it, I can do it."  That a real... it's such a positive  incentive of demonstrating that ok it is achievable. It is possible to take action. You know when people start feeling a little bit dejected of "oh it's a big issue that I can't fix" and now while we might not be able to individually fix it. There are things that we can absolutely do that make a difference and that collective voice then starts to really build, to push more people to support us, to get more things involved, to get more funding, to support schools... And again that will come through that storytelling and sharing of experiences and coming together and being united in an....in an attempt to make something positive happen. 

Joe: Yeah, for sure. And that collective voice, I suppose, again, coming back to and not being kind of butting heads of different stakeholders, but actually everyone coming together and seeing what we can do together. And I think that's why for me, this role, this project and air quality in general is or clean air in general is really good. Is that like tangible things that can be done, simple actions that you can take, at a school, at a business, whatever it might be that can have an impact both locally and then, because the air moves, more broadly as well. And it kind of being that climate action but in that kind of local context and you can really see the impacts and then it opens up all the stuff that we've been talking about, about the co-benefits and the being good for people and good for the planet comes through within that as kind of not secondary, but kind of alongside. And people can then get to understand that, yeah, these little positive changes that we can make in the community can be, yeah, kind of build and be so much more, um. Yeah.

Clair: Yeah. It's not, it's not quite a "every little helps" approach, is it, but it is more like every time you do something it contributes towards it's a multiplier effect. It's not just like lots of little bits, but each little piece makes the next bit bigger and the next bit bigger still, because you've then got more and more people and more and more voices and more commitments.

Joe: Yes.