The social issues central to the definition and implementation of these policies cut across the entire ACME project. Taking an action research approach, ACME also proposes tools for the general public and public decision-makers to encourage the adoption and implementation of ambitious policies.
Objectives
Drawing on an interdisciplinary consortium involving laboratories from the CBS, PAS, PSS and SHS clusters, ACME's scientific objectives are to:
- To characterise the associations between the oxidising potential (OP) of fine particles and health. This will give rise to an assessment of the chronic and acute health effects in early childhood, based on the SEPAGES cohort, and will enable data to be collected to take part in a European meta-analysis linking the level of OP to mortality. Finally, for the first time, ACME will include OP in the economic analysis of health costs.
- Contribute to the definition of policies that encourage sustainable behaviour, which are more effective from an environmental and economic point of view and fair from a social point of view. ACME will carry out one of the first environmental assessments of the impact on air quality of the introduction of a 'Low Emission Zone'. It will seek to assess the extent to which social interactions can have an impact on our mobility choices and enable the effectiveness of policies to be amplified through an intervention on mobility in companies. This will involve collecting individual mobility data (access to several thousand employees through a partnership with the Syndicat Mixte des Mobilités de l'Agglomération Grenobloise). We will assess the potential impact on social vulnerabilities and inequalities of policies aimed at sustainable mobility. Finally, all the projects carried out since the launch of MobilAir will enable an interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary analysis of the determinants of changes in mobility behaviour towards sustainable transport and the development of public policy recommendations.
- Assessing the combined health and socio-economic impacts of pollution and climate change on an urban scale. At the local level in Grenoble, ACME will identify solutions, which are the responsibility of local decision-makers, to combat air pollution and the effects of climate change while protecting human health. We will focus on evaluating climate scenarios and exposure to atmospheric pollutants up to 2050 using atmospheric modelling, and will take into account the challenges of reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. A cost-benefit analysis will quantify the economic impacts and health costs on the basis of mortality dose-response curves applied to pollutant levels (ozone, carbon soot, particulates) modelled in 2050. We will characterise social inequalities in terms of exposure and contribution to pollution and climate change, and assess whether perceptions of climate change and pollution can affect residential location choices and lead to the amplification of certain inequalities.
Project progress
Finally, ACME will enable the development of a number of tools to raise awareness among the general public and to support public decision-making on the social, health, economic and environmental issues surrounding pollution and climate change, and policies to limit their impact.
ACME is perpetuating the MobilAir research consortium, which combines modelling, environmental measurements, population surveys, cohorts with their biobanks, health impact studies and action on mobility, in a consortium of researchers each working on one or more aspects of air pollution and climate change (transport, environmental and health economists, behavioural psychologists, geographers, epidemiologists, atmospheric modellers) in conjunction with local authorities. ACME is taking place at a time when decisive action needs to be taken actively and effectively in Grenoble Metropole and elsewhere, in terms of pollution and climate change mitigation and adaptation. It will make it possible to pass on methodologies and results to decision-makers and stakeholders at national and international level.