Malopolska awaits anti-smog acceleration

Recent public opinion polls show that Malopolska people negatively perceive air quality in their region. The greatest awareness of the problem of air pollution occurs in Krakow, as many as 81% of respondents think that air quality is very bad or rather bad. Despite the fact that in villages and smaller towns the overall quality of air quality is better, as much as 63% of Malopolska people are convinced that air is more polluted during the heating season and assesses its quality in those months as very bad or rather bad. A similar percentage (69%) believes that air quality may, in the future, negatively influence their health of the health of their relatives.

Malopolska people show very high support for anti-smog regulations. Almost 90% of the region’s population supports the introduction of the obligation to replace the most polluting boilers, with the government subsidizing the costs of such replacements. Equally high is the percentage of the respondents supporting the introduction of coal quality standards or tougher penalties for waste incineration. There is also high support for limiting traffic in larger cities and forbidding the entry of cars with old diesel engines to the centers of large cities – in Krakow it was 63% and 70%.

The research also reveals a big problem with access to information on the current air quality in places outside Krakow. As many as 61% feel ill-informed in this regard. On the other hand, about three-quarters of Malopolska Region’s population expect easier access to this type of information. Preferably, Malopolska people would like information about air quality to reach them via the Internet, electronic signboards in urban spaces, municipal offices, television, radio and the press.

The research was conducted in August 2016 on a representative sample of 1000 inhabitants of the region. The research was carried out by the CEM Institute for Market Research and Public Opinion, commissioned by the Krakow Smog Alert Association, as part of the integrated project “Implementation of the Air Quality Plan in the Malopolska Region – Malopolska in a healthy atmosphere”, co-funded under the European Union LIFE Program.

Report on the assessment of the awareness of the inhabitants of Malopolska