The AIT Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (AIT RRC.AP), with partners, organised a 5-day capacity-building workshop on air quality management during 19-23 September 2022 at AIT Conference Center. The workshop aimed to build the capacities of the countries for better management of air quality and to enhance the technical capabilities to support their national efforts for addressing air pollution issues. 

More than 45 participants from 17 countries including 9 member countries of the ASEAN Haze Agreement (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand) and 8 member countries of the Malé Declaration (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) and a representative from the ASEAN Secretariat participated in the workshop.​

The proceedings of the workshop consisted of 5 Modules, namely, Air Quality Monitoring, Emission Inventory Development, Air Quality Modeling, Impact Assessment, and Air Pollution Mitigation Policies. Hands-on training on air quality monitoring, air quality modeling and emission inventory were conducted. Half day visit to Automotive Emission Laboratory of Pollution Control Department (PCD) and Environmental Research and Training Center (ERTC) was organized where participants learned about the emission testing and analysis of dioxin, mercury, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

This workshop was the second capacity-building workshop of the 2-year project “Capacity Development Program on Air Quality Management and Emission Reduction of PM2.5 for ASEAN Countries” supported by the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN). APN funded this project as a part of their Capacity Development Programme (CAPaBLE) and it is in line with APN’s thematic priority areas on transboundary air pollution and its impact on human health.

Apart from APN and AIT, the Pollution Control Department (PCD) and Environmental Research and Training Center (ERTC) of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand; the National Institute of Technology (ITENAS), Indonesia; the University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia; and the UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific are the partner to this project. 

More details can be found.