METEOR Research EU Newsletter

December 2025

Thank you for being part of the METEOR community!

A Horizon Europe research community exploring how environmental factors like air and noise pollution and chemicals impact our health and society.

On behalf of the METEOR Cluster VALESOR is pleased to share with you another edition of the METEOR Newsletter. The research conducted by the METEOR projects will broaden our understanding how health is impacted by our environments and propose policy recommendations to protect our health and the planet.

In this edition, you will find the latest publications from the METEOR cluster projects, as well as updates on the workshops organised to provide an opportunity to engage with the ongoing research and shape the resulting recommendations. A key output from this second period is the organisation of the 3rd METEOR thematic workshop in Angers (France). Discussions about the economic valuation of environmental stressors paved the way to 2026 cluster final event promoting policy recommendations to European institutions. Indeed, harmonisation of economic valuation methods of environmental pollution will foster tailor-made EU policies. VALESOR has exposed the first results of different health end-points (asthma, CKD, type II diabetes, dementia, stroke and lung cancer) of QALY associated values as well as benefit-transfer associated elements.

We invite you to check out the websites of each project involved in the Cluster, all of which you can find on the METEOR website. Follow METEOR on social media for the latest updates.

Gildas Appéré

VALESOR Project Coordinator, University of Angers

Current METEOR cluster coordinator

News from the METEOR Cluster

METEOR, an EU-funded initiative that brings together five projects to generate evidence and policy recommendations that protect people and the planet, while empowering the next generation of researchers to drive change in Europe.

The METEOR Cluster presents policy insights on assessing health costs of environmental stressors. As environmental challenges continue to shape European health and policy agendas, the METEOR Cluster is advancing methods to quantify the true cost of pollution and other environmental stressors on public health. A new series of policy briefs – drawing on findings from across the five METEOR projects – illustrates how scientific data can guide cost-effective, health-based decision-making. These insights support EU policymakers in aligning environmental and public health objectives within upcoming Green Deal and Zero Pollution Action Plan initiatives.

Policy dialogue and next steps for the METEOR Cluster.

At the 3^rd METEOR cluster coordination meeting and workshop held in Angers (France) on 21^st and 22^nd October, METEOR partners reviewed progress and discussed opportunities to strengthen science-to-policy translation. The session highlighted the importance of harmonised methodologies for exposure assessment and cost evaluation, setting the stage for upcoming cross-project policy workshops in 2026.

New digital resources strengthen METEOR outreach. The METEOR Cluster continues to expand its digital presence to make research results more visible and accessible. New resources – such as interactive infographics and project snapshots – will soon be available on the METEOR website, offering stakeholders a quick overview of tools, datasets and policy outputs.

Join the conversation. Follow METEOR on LinkedIn and use the hashtag #MeteorEU to stay updated on how European research is helping assess and reduce the health burden of environmental stressors. Upcoming posts will highlight partner achievements, new publications, and opportunities to engage with the METEOR network.

Policy

Communications

BEST-COST – Disseminated environmental health economics insights

• Winter & Spring Newsletters: Newsletter Winter & Newsletter Spring

• Conference Participation and Webinars. Engagement through international scientific and policy events. Establishing new exposure-response functions for air pollutants and environmental noise & The costs of climate change: BEST-COST at the 1st European Public Health Economics Conference

MARCHES – Shared project goals and progress with diverse audiences

• Communication & Outreach. The project published a multilingual brochure covering all case study regions, summarising project objectives, methods, and preliminary results. Brochure about MARCHES

MISTRAL – Bringing Research to Citizens

• International Experts Forum: Research & Innovation for Healthy Living in a Healthy Environment (December 10, 2024, Remote): MISTRAL participated in the 3rd International Experts Forum & Policy Dialogue Workshop, organised by ENRICH GLOBAL. The online event brought together researchers, innovators, policymakers, and R&I stakeholders from around the world to address the global challenge of achieving healthy living in a healthy environment. Rodolfo Sardone, as Scientific Coordinator, presented MISTRAL with an intervention on “Artificial Intelligence for Urban Health Impact and Biodiversity Assessment” alongside other European initiatives, including the PARC Partnership, METEOR Cluster, CARING NATURE, and PLANET4HEALTH projects. The workshop highlighted strategies for reducing environmental risks to human health and fostered new cooperation opportunities across the Mediterranean basin. More information: Event page

• Community engagement: Exploring Environmental Health Through Dialogue and Participation (24 October 2025, Taranto, Italy) “The European project MISTRAL and the ZEPHYR study meet the citizens of Taranto to present the research goals on the impact of the environment on health. ”A dialogue-driven event to foster active participation from local communities, health professionals and authorities”. Watch the video: Discover what the ZEPHYR study is all about.

UBDPolicy – Strengthened collaboration and shared project progress

• Key Events & Capacity Building. Serve both communication and capacity-building purposes, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. Researchers actively contributed to major events, including the Breathe Clean Air Patient Conference, EUPHA-HIA Conference (Madrid), POLIS Working Groups, ICUH Conference (Morocco), and the European Urban Resilience Forum (Rotterdam). The project was also represented at high-level forums.

• Published Infographics:

  • How the urban environment impacts people’s health

  • Health impacts of air pollution, heat, and lack of green space in Sofia

     

VALESOR – Showcased progress and disseminated results to stakeholders

• Two years of progress for VALESOR – Preparing for the launch of the VALESOR tool: A milestone year in 2025.

• Participation in 2 international conferences: VALESOR was represented at a policy sessions at SBCA 2024, 19–20 September 2024, Warsaw, Poland and EPHEC 2025, 26^th June 2025, in Palermo, Italy by Krister Mars, Anthesis.

Research

BEST-COST – Expanded research on health impacts and economic evaluation of pollution.

• Publication: Peer-reviewed research article on health-related quality of life and policy transferability: Cluster analysis of EQ-5D-5L value sets in European Union countries.

MARCHES – Strengthened evidence through data, modelling, and methodological review.

• Citizen Surveys. Launch of a large-scale citizen survey on air quality perceptions across five EU Member States and Kosovo, strengthening the evidence base for inclusive environmental health policies.

• Environmental Modelling. Scientists advanced atmospheric and hydrological models to simulate environmental stressors. These models will underpin analyses of the costs and benefits of measures aimed at reducing health burdens from poor air quality and compromised drinking water.

• A curated collection of relevant publications and literature supporting evidence-based urban health and environmental policies is available on the MARCHES website. Relevant literature

MISTRAL – Advanced research on air pollution, health, and socio-economic impacts.

• MISTRAL presented the results of a citizen-level study that links air pollution, socio-economic determinants, urban stressors, and health economics outcomes in Taranto. Preliminary results indicate that higher NO₂/PM2.5 ratios, adjusted for individual socio-economic factors, are associated with an increase in non-communicable diseases over a 9-year observation period. The real innovation is that the air dispersion model of pollutants has been scaled to the individual level and related to personal well-being determinants. The dynamic and individual approach to Health Impact Assessment suggests new possibilities for simulating and anticipating the effects of ecological urban policies.

• Research milestone - ZEPHYR enrolment (~65%). The ZEPHYR study achieved ~65% recruitment of the target population enrolled in the cross-sectional study - an essential step for validating MISTRAL’s predictive HIA models on real-world clinical & environmental data, using primary data directly collected in the three study cities (Taranto, Italy; Rybnik, Poland; Hasselt, Belgium). View the infographic: ZEPHYR Enrolment Progress

UBDPolicy – Strengthened collaboration and shared project progress

• New Training and Education Event: HIA Course – EIT Mobility

  • https://ubdpolicy.eu/introduction-to-health-impact-assessment-hia/

  • Members from ISGlobal are teaching (1–11 December, online)

• UBDPolicy has published several peer-reviewed articles: The Lancet Planetary Health (1,2)

• Environment International (1,2), Health & Place, Environmental Research (1,2,3), Environmental Health Reports, Cities Volume 155 & Cities Volume 153

VALESOR – Produced evidence on pollution, inequality, and health risks through 3 articles published in peer-reviewed journals

• Socioeconomic Factors & Air Pollution. Meta-analysis on how social and economic status affects mortality risks from PM_2.5

• Air Pollution Assessment Methods. Development of improved exposure-response functions for air pollutants.

• Chemical Health Risks Review. Review identifying knowledge gaps in assessing risks of EU-regulated air and water pollutants

METEOR is funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme