CLAIRO public opinion surveys: Results reveal concerns about air quality and openness towards urban greening in Ostrava agglomeration

In Ostrava and nearby towns two public opinion surveys were conducted under CLAIRO on air quality in 2019 and 2020 by the Regional Association of Territorial Cooperation of Teschen Silesia (RATCTS) and SOBIC, a research and innovation institute.

The surveys were undertaken to support the replication of the approach promoted by CLAIRO, the transfer of a solution aiming at the reduction of air pollution with the help of greenery across the Moravian-Silesian Region. Additionally, the surveys functioned also as outreach campaigns supporting awareness raising on clean air among residents of the Ostrava agglomeration. During the interviews, respondents obtained basic information about the sources of air pollution in their area, examples and uses of different types of urban vegetation, the role of composition of greenery in improving air quality and about the activities of the CLAIRO project.

Both in 2019 and 2020 the surveys were undertaken in the October-November period, and in both cases slightly over 600 respondents were interviewed. The same questions were asked in both surveys. The autumn period was carefully picked for the interviews. During this time of the year air quality is already worsening in the region and as such it becomes a more relevant issue for respondents. Additionally, in October and November because of the relatively good weather it is easier to address people in the streets. The coldest months were avoided, as in wintertime due to poor air quality residents can become biased about the topic.

Apart from Ostrava, respondents were from towns and smaller municipalities of the Moravian-Silesian Region: Bohumín, Ceský Tesín, Frýdek-Místek, Havírov, Karviná, Opava, and Trinec. Almost half of the respondents were from Ostrava. The results of the two surveys will be analysed in detail by SOBIC and RATCTS in a study to be prepared by Autumn 2021.

A focus on air quality, greenery and behaviour of residents

Of course, Covid-19 had an impact on the execution of the survey in 2020. As the second wave of the pandemic has hit the Czech Republic in autumn, restrictions were enacted across the country. The team responsible for the survey was lucky enough to start with more intensive data collection early on, already in the beginning of October. In this period local residents were still willing to participate in the survey in a larger number. By the time people became more wary to stop in the streets and speak with strangers because of the rising case numbers, the majority of the 600 interviews were already done. With the early start the team managed to reach altogether 600 people similarly to the previous year.

Gabriela Kaluzova, International Project Manager and Consultant at SOBIC highlighted the benefits of the public opinion surveys:

A part of the surveys related to the perception of air quality topic had been already researched in the past and will enable to follow the evolution in longer time perspective. On the other hand, another section of the surveys on urban greenery in relation to air quality has not been realized before and will provide regional municipalities with an interesting message from their citizens. Moreover, the research enables tracing the willingness of regional citizens to adapt or change their behaviour in favour of clear air. Finally, the in-depth surveys, involving 1207 respondents in total, enabled to address citizens from the whole agglomeration with basic information on the project outputs and thus contributed to awareness-raising on the positive impacts of urban greenery.

The interview questions were clustered under three distinct themes, air quality, urban greenery and the willingness of people to change their behaviour to improve air quality.

The pandemic sheds light on the relevance of clean air

Are inhabitants of the Moravian-Silesian Region interested in air quality related issues? Is the topic relevant for them? How do people rate air quality in their neighbourhoods? Do they think that air quality is better today than it was 10 years ago? A part of the survey searched answers to these questions.

The results showed that almost 60% of the people living in the Ostrava agglomeration take an active interest in air quality and also consider topic to be very important. Apparently, the pandemic highlighted the importance of air quality, as slightly more people considered the issue relevant in 2020 than in 2019. Unsurprisingly, respondents with higher level of education showed a more serious interest in the subject, and a higher proportion of them believed that the topic is very relevant.