UCILeR researcher integrates project on Environmental Justice
Alexandra Aragão, UCIleR integrated researcher, is a member of the ALICE project team - Air polLution: a stressor for environmental justice, approved by FCT in the Call for R&D Projects in All Scientific Domains 2022.
The project is coordinated by the University of Aveiro and will address air pollution as a problem of great environmental and health risk.
Outdoor air pollution is responsible for 4.2 million deaths worldwide every year. However, pollution affects each person differently depending on their age, physical condition, and socio-economic status, which influences their ability to cope with this problem. Governments must promote justice, and while legislation is based on this principle, its implementation can have a disproportionate impact on vulnerable and marginalized communities due to socioeconomic inequalities. This understanding has led to the emergence of the concept of Environmental Justice (EJ), which aims to address these inequalities by establishing links between environmental issues (such as air pollution), social and economic factors, and habitual location (place of residence, work, or leisure) in order to assess the fairness of these relationships and identify points of territorial injustice. The project will begin in March 2023.
The FCT R&D Projects in All Scientific Domains call is carried out on an annual basis. Next year, the call for submissions will be in July.