As young change makers and innovators gathered at the Auditorium of the Accra Technical University on 16th December, 2023, for Barcamp Accra, they had several ideas to share and to implement. Topics of discussion such as Financial Literacy, Education, Communication, Artificial Intelligence and others were thoroughly dissected, and practical solutions to some of the social problems were suggested. One pertinent problem was the problem of poor air quality in Accra. This was a cause for concern due to the problems associated with poor air quality. A breakout session on quality air was moderated by the Clean Air Fund Team. The main issue was how to improve the air quality in Accra.
The causes of poor air quality such as vehicle emissions, burning of refuse, lack of trees in the city were discussed. The participants involved in this session came from diverse backgrounds. Practical solutions came from the architectural space, mobility or transport space, Design space and Educational space. For the architectural space it was suggested that there should be spaces for trees and other plants when buildings are being designed. The transport or mobility space also suggested the use of electric vehicles so as to cut down on emissions from fossil fueled vehicles. The educators suggested that there should be more education on the effects of air pollution, cutting down of trees and the indiscriminate cutting down of trees in the schools right from the lower level. It was also suggested that the EPA should be up and doing in their enforcement of environmental protection laws in the city of Accra.
Participants also laid bare the consequences of poor quality air, such as respiratory diseases and the danger poor quality air poses to asthmatics.
At the end of the session, the participants made a commitment to embark on an aggressive tree planting exercise and use other practical solutions to improve the air quality in Accra and other parts of the country.
@CleanAirFund #CleanAirGhana #CleanAir4All #bcaccra23 #bcaccra
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