On 27 May 2026, representatives of county government offices and the municipalities participating in the LIFE IP HungAIRy project met for the fourth time to exchange experiences and discuss current challenges related to the revision of their air quality plans.

The professional roundtable discussion, organised within the environmental project coordinated by HungaroMet Nonprofit Ltd., was successfully concluded, providing a strong basis for harmonising the plans, identifying data collection needs and sharing good practices among the participating organisations.

The LIFE IP HungAIRy project – “Improving air quality in 10 Hungarian municipalities by promoting the implementation of air quality plans” – was launched in 2019 and will run until the end of 2026. Its aim is to reduce pollutant emissions and improve air quality through the implementation of comprehensive and pilot measures.

Although concentrations of the most important air pollutants have shown a decreasing trend over recent decades, further local and national measures to improve air quality remain essential. This is due both to the stricter air quality limit values introduced by the European Union and to the recognised health impacts of air pollution.

As part of the project, participating municipalities review their air quality plans every two years in cooperation with the relevant government offices and other stakeholders. HungaroMet, as the coordinating beneficiary of the project, supports this process by providing professional expertise for the preparation of the plans and by supporting the practical application, long-term operation and further development of the ATMO-Plan air quality modelling and decision-support tool developed within the project.

The roundtable discussion was opened by Barbara Bezegh, project manager of LIFE IP HungAIRy, who welcomed the participants. In her introduction, she highlighted the importance of air quality plans and emphasised that cooperation between different stakeholders and the effective implementation of planned measures are essential for improving air quality.

Air quality protection expert Dr Judit Varga explained that EU air quality regulations are becoming stricter in order to provide more effective protection of human health. The requirements of the new Air Quality Directive must be incorporated into national legislation by the end of this year. She presented the most important changes and discussed the new tasks and challenges these developments create for the national monitoring network.

The expert also highlighted the importance of modelling as one of the fundamental tools of air quality management. Modelling represents both a significant opportunity and a professional challenge. It makes it possible not only to assess air quality in areas without monitoring stations, but also to forecast expected pollution levels and estimate the impact of planned measures aimed at improving air quality.

Ildikó Babcsány, head of the Eco-manager Knowledge Centre, once again presented the guidance document developed by HungAIRy several years ago to support the revision of air quality plans. The guide provides valuable assistance to those responsible for preparing the plans.

She emphasised the importance of analysing the current situation, examining pollution sources in a comprehensive way, drawing conclusions, defining appropriate measures and estimating their expected impacts – for example through modelling – before incorporating these measures into the final plans.

Following the professional presentations, an active discussion took place among the participants. Representatives shared updates on the progress of their current air quality plans, discussed challenges they had encountered and the solutions they had applied, while exchanging practical experiences and good practices to support each other’s work.