Our air, our voices: Co-creating clean air policy with young Londoners

Toxic air is the UK’s largest environmental threat to health, responsible for up to 43,000 premature deaths each year.

But the burden of air pollution doesn’t fall equally. Unfairly, it is those least responsible for air pollution who are often the most affected. That includes people from lower-income areas and racialised communities, who are disproportionately affected by air pollution and are often excluded from partaking in developing policy that could protect them.

At Asthma + Lung UK, we believe that must change.

Air pollution is an issue of social justice. Through creative workshops, community dialogue, and sharing lived experience as empirical evidence, we aim to drive equitable clean air policy development. That’s why, this summer, we’re launching OUR AIR, OUR VOICES, a participatory research project that will bring together a diverse group of young Londoners to co-create policies for Fairer and Healthier Air. Our project, in partnership with Impact on Urban Health, seeks to shine a light on the unfairness of toxic air.

Why we need inclusive policymaking

Public trust in government is at a record low, and clean air policy has become a clear example of that disconnect. Negative press and poor communication have fuelled public confusion, turning a vital public health issue into a divisive debate. Clean Air Zones (CAZs) are a case in point: while they are already delivering measurable health benefits, poor communication and limited public involvement have made them contentious. To build trust and ensure fairness, it is essential that policies like CAZs are shaped with communities rather than imposed on them. As we’ve highlighted in our previous work on CAZs, failing to involve and support affected communities risks reinforcing misinformation, eroding public trust, and leading to less equitable decisions.

OUR AIR, OUR VOICES takes a different approach.

Since disparities in air pollution exposure are rooted in systemic inequalities, clean air policy making must involve those communities affected by systemic inequality. We are therefore embracing inclusive policy development; a process that goes beyond informing or consulting communities and instead facilitates and enables community involvement from the outset of policy making.

We are working with young people aged 16-24 and are encouraging applications from those who live in lower income areas and/or who are from racialised communities. We want to explore what clean air means to them, and how fair and effective solutions to air pollution could be realised.

Inclusive policy development isn’t easy. It can be slower, more complex, and less predictable than traditional approaches. Navigating different perspectives, balancing expectations, and creating meaningful space for community input takes care. But these challenges are worth facing, and we’re approaching them with intention.

At Asthma + Lung UK, we’re partnering with and learning from organisations who have worked to establish trusted and sustainable grassroots relationships to help us promote, run and evaluate our project. We’re embedding transparency at every stage and building in feedback loops so participants can see how their voices shape outcomes. Where suggestions by participants can’t be taken forward, we’ll communicate the reasons why rather than leaving communities feeling unheard. By approaching this work thoughtfully, we aim to build trust in the process itself as well as the outcomes.

Creativity as a tool for change

Our two workshops will bring young people together in creative spaces, each workshop focused on a different way of exploring air pollution. Day one will use gardening to connect air pollution with human health and climate health. Day two will focus on creative writing as a tool for imagining an alternative future, our role in that, and influencing decision makers to act.

Why creativity? Because we know that imagination can unlock new ways of thinking, especially for those who’ve rarely been asked “what would you do if you were in charge?”. We’re using creative practice not just as a form of expression, but as a recognised method for producing knowledge. Widely used in work with young people and marginalised communities, creative methods can open more equitable, less extractive spaces for participation. They allow people to explore complex issues like air pollution and injustice on their own terms, sharing lived experience, values and insight through the process of making.

Following the creative process, participants will help shape our final outputs to ensure their views lead the work and are represented authentically. These materials will be used to influence clean air conversations with the national government, including as a central part of an Asthma + Lung UK Parliamentary event in late 2025.

Why now?

Labour’s election campaign included bold promises on public health and prevention, but their first King’s Speech omitted a Clean Air Act. Meanwhile, the government is preparing to launch a consultation on woodburning and develop what they describe as a “co-designed” Air Quality Strategy, though what this means in practice remains undefined.

We see a critical window of opportunity.

Without meaningful pressure, there’s a danger that these upcoming processes will default to one-sided consultation, where community input is only sought at the consultation stage, after key decisions have already been made. We want to see a shift toward genuine involvement, one where people most affected by air pollution are meaningfully involved in shaping the policies that affect their health, their environment, and their futures.

Our project with Impact on Urban Health reflects a dual strategy: advocating for more inclusive policy design in government, while also advancing inclusive policymaking in our own work at Asthma + Lung UK.