Cape Town - Runners gathered early on Saturday morning to join the Department of Science and Innovation’s (DSI) Cityzens 4 Clean Air fun run with UrbanBetter in Cape Town to measure air quality in different socio-economic areas and to advocate for cleaner and healthier public spaces in the city.
Two groups departed from Mouille Point Lighthouse near Sea Point and from Mandela Park in Khayelitsha to sweat out the 5-10 km fun run.
The participants came from a variety of running groups and wore sensors to test the air quality and possible sources of polluted air on their route in different socio-economic zones.
This initiative hoped to highlight air pollution and the contribution that citizen science can make to mitigating the effects of climate change ahead of the World Science Forum taking place from Tuesday until Friday. The theme for the WSF was “Science for Social Justice”.
DSI co-ordinators of the Cityzens 4 Clean Air run, Mabatho Ndwandwa said they wanted to make people more aware of the quality of air they breathe and to therefore act at individual and collective levels to improve their environment by reducing their own footprint through personal choices linked to energy and consumption.
Air pollution not only fuelled climate change, but also affected health – including risk of heart attacks, lung cancer, asthma and stunted development in children.
Urban Better run leader Kiara Klitzner said: “In Cape Town, we need to remember how divided and unequal our city is and being able to monitor different air quality in different parts of the city is important if we want to transform our city socially and spatially.”
Ndwandwa and DSI co-ordinator Modikoe Patjane said the campaign tapped into the potential of young people to contribute to the achievement of several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
“We need clean air. We need to eradicate pollution to combat climate change and to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe and sustainable,” Ndwandwa said.
The runners in Cape Town were supported by runners in Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria.
The data collected was being analysed and the findings would be shared at the closing session of the WSF 2022.
