Health effects of air pollution

Cultivating grassroots activism on air pollution

We’re working with The Social Innovation Partnership (TSIP) to bring together a network of campaigners for clean air in Lambeth and Southwark.

Key info:

Partner: The Social Innovation Partnership (TSIP)
Amount: £150,000
Duration: 12 months
Programme: Health effects of air pollution

What are we doing together?

The people whose health is most affected by air pollution are seldom heard on the issue. We want to create opportunities for the people most affected by poor air quality to demand action and to be heard.

That’s why we are supporting The Social Innovation Partnership (TSIP) to convene a unified network of grassroots campaigners concerned about the damaging effects of air pollution on their communities.

Funding community-led campaign ideas will help to raise awareness of air pollution among local people. It will also encourage local policymakers to implement long-term solutions for cleaner air in London.

TSIP will provide the space and resources for activists and campaigners to come together to advocate for equitable policies on air pollution. They will run a series of collaborative workshops, known as Air Tables, across Lambeth and Southwark and will invite people to share their creative campaign ideas. A community-led panel will then decide which campaigns to take forward. TSIP will provide the funding, skills and connections to turn these ideas into practical, deliverable projects.

At the end of the year, TSIP will analyse the projects. A final Air Table will give campaigners an opportunity to share their feedback and plan next steps for the movement.

Aim of the partnership

We want community-led campaign ideas, grounded in the real-life experience of those most affected by air pollution but the most seldom heard, to reach and influence local and national Government. We hope this approach will ensure politicians and policymakers begin to recognise that air pollution is a social justice, health equity and racial justice issue.

This project responds to insights gathered by TSIP and Centric during work with South London activists involved in air pollution campaigning. Their feedback highlighted the barriers to effective advocacy and campaigning in communities most affected by air pollution, including:

Few opportunities and spaces for campaigners to come together and collaborate to improve air quality. Separate groups working in siloes limits their influencing impact.
Lack of funding for grassroots activists. This is a particular problem for marginalised groups or those campaigning for equitable solutions that may not be popular within the wider clean air sector.
A sense of disconnection between young people, local campaigns, and the issue of air pollution.

Through this partnership, we are testing how removing these barriers could amplify the voices and influence of those most affected by air pollution.

Connection to our strategy

Our Health effects of air pollution programme aims to reduce the inequities of air pollution. One of these inequities is that those who are most affected by air pollution are listened to the least.

This project will create opportunities for minoritised groups to have a voice. And we will use our expertise and resources to amplify these voices, so policymakers hear and act on grassroots perspectives. In doing so, we hope to improve air quality in Lambeth and Southwark, influence wider policy change and improve health.