EU project TRIGGER- SoluTions foR mItiGatinG climate-induced hEalth thReats

Start date: 2022
End date: 2026
Funding: EU (Horizon Europe Framework Programme im Call Environment and health)
Project responsibility on site: Prof. Dr. Elke Hertig, Dr. Muhammad Saleem Pomee, Karolin Rückle M.Sc.

By committing a wide interdisciplinary consortium of 22 partners in 15 countries, TRIGGER has a simple value proposition: tackle the complex climate-health interaction to ultimately influence policy priorities for a better integration between personal health protection and the environment in which choices at personal level can be made to reach that purpose. To address this challenge, TRIGGER has envisaged activities in a wide variety of disciplines (supported by the diverse expertise of its consortium) developed in a variety of real-world contexts that take into account the climatic, social, economic and cultural richness of the European continent. TRIGGER's engines are the Climate-Health Connections Labs (CHC Labs): five selected Labs built in European cities, strategically distributed from south to north Europe. Each Lab will co-design a series of policies based on a better understanding of the influencing weather and climatic factors on human health. Through sophisticated monitoring of both climate and health, data exploration using advanced methods such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and numerical weather and climate prediction models an evaluation based-on evidence of cost of actions and inaction will be made. A reliable and transdisciplinary scientific research methodology is designed to provide the necessary evidence and to translate knowledge into workable and user-friendly tools to support policy- and decision-making process and, thus, of practical interest to public and private authorities, health institutions and care providers, including tools to support policy and decision-making.

The main objective of TRIGGER is to identify, monitor and quantify direct and indirect impacts of climate change induced environmental hazards on human health through the direct collection of health, weather-climate, environmental and socio-economic data with user-friendly tools (sensors, simplified models, and data hub). The research activities lead to construct a concrete and workable toolbox, policy briefs and guidelines to support policy and decision makers in developing and applying climate actions supported by up-to-date medical scientific evidence, as well as to release educational activities and materials to raise awareness of the climate-health connections to the wider society.

See also: Links to the official TRIGGER homepage and to the CHC Lab Augsburg.

Project Responsibilities:

Coordinator:

Prof. Dr. Silvana Sabatino, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Bologna, Italy.

Augsburg:

Prof. Dr. Elke Hertig, Regional Climate Change and Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Berghaus, Deputy Head of Pneumology, I. Medical Clinic, Augsburg University Hospital

Dr. Monika Schulze, Andreas Hoffmann, Kateryna Syniuga, Department of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Augsburg University Hospital

Reiner Erben, Department for Sustainability, Environment, Climate and Health, City of Augsburg

Impressions from the first TRIGGER Annual Meeting at Crete, Greece (21-23 June 2023)