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BEST-COST is a 4-year EU-funded research project aiming to improve methodologies for understanding the socioeconomic cost of environmental stressors, with a focus on air and noise pollution.
Spring Edition 2023
I am pleased to present the first edition of the BEST-COST newsletter. BEST-COST was launched in January 2023 to develop a novel methodological framework to quantify the burden, cost and social and health inequalities caused by air and noise pollution. This framework will enable researchers and policymakers to adopt a harmonised approach and make use of improved economic and health modelling in policy impact assessments.

In this edition you will find news about the initial work of BEST-COST, its Horizon EU cluster, and upcoming events the BEST-COST consortium will attend.

Future editions of this newsletter will keep you informed of BEST-COST outcomes and events. I invite you to share this newsletter and the link to sign-up with your colleagues so they too can be kept up to date with our work to reduce the health costs of pollution.
Brecht Devleesschauwer,
BEST-COST Project Coordinator and Head of Health information at Sciensano
 

News from BEST-COST

BEST-COST kicked off its work in Ghent, Belgium
The BEST-COST project kicked off in January 2023 with a meeting between all consortium partners in Ghent, Belgium. The meeting served to outline the timeline and targets for each work package, and understand the synergies between them. The consortium also looked towards identifying opportunities and challenges presented by the project to navigate future discussions and enable BEST-COST to fill in missing gaps in measuring the cost of pollution.
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Launch of the BEST-COST social media and branding
The official Twitter and LinkedIn pages of BEST-COST were launched alongside the Kick-Off meeting. Follow us to receive the latest project updates and insights into air and noise pollution. You can also join the conversation with the official hashtag #BestCostEU.

The BEST-COST official logo captures the focus of the project, with elements of air and noise combined with colours which reflect both environment and health themes.
The BEST-COST website is live
The official BEST-COST website serves as a hub for resources and updates from the BEST-COST consortium. It will feature all  tools and publications developed by BEST-COST, to be freely downloaded and used. These will include methodological protocols, as well as research reports and a Policy Action Framework. The website will also provide updates about BEST-COST news and events, such as our capacity building workshops, research Hackathon and final conference.
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BEST-COST research is underway
The team behind BEST-COST Work Package 1 has begun systematic literature reviews to establish exposure-response functions of selected air pollutant and environmental noise sources and outcome pairs. The team is also planning reviews on the environmental burden of disease methodology and data input sources. This information is pivotal in BEST-COST’s aims to develop a harmonised burden of disease methodology for selected environmental stressors PM, NO2 and O3, as well road traffic noise, railway noise and air traffic noise. This new methodological protocol will improve ways to quantify the environmental burden of disease and will be available in 2024.
METEOR Cluster – Communications Group kicks off
BEST-COST is a part of the METEOR (Methods for assessing health-related costs of environmental stressors) Horizon EU cluster – a group of five research projects looking into the impact of environmental stressors on health. On behalf of BEST-COST, EuroHealthNet leads the communications cluster working group. The aim of this group is to build collaborations on communication activities which amplify the outcomes of each project. We will also look for synergies and how the projects complement one another in their efforts to address the health impacts of environmental stressors. The projects will collaborate on developing a website, social media, and newsletters.
 

What we're reading

  • European environment and health atlas European Environment Agency (EEA) - The European Environment and Health Atlas is an interactive tool to share information on how pollution and other environmental risks affect the health and well-being of people in their local environments.
  • Belgian index of multiple deprivation (BIMD), Spatial and Spatio-temporal Epidemiology - The newly published BIMD offers a tool for researchers and policymakers in analysing patterns of deprivation.
  • Environmental Noise Directive, European Commission – The European Commission has published a third implementation report which shows progress achieved, but warns that the current number and intensity of actions must be increased to reach the targets of reducing the number of people impacted by noise pollution.
  • Air pollution kills 1,200 children a year, European Environment Agency – According to an EEA report, despite recent efforts to reduce air pollution levels, it is reported to cause more than 1,200 premature deaths a year in under 18s across Europe and increases the risk of chronic disease later in life.
 

Coming up

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 BEST-COST is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under Grant Agreement No.101095408.
 

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