According to the European Environment Agency, nearly 240,000 deaths each year in the European Union can still be attributed to fine particulate matter, and uncertainty remains on the disease burden of air, noise, water and soil pollution. Meanwhile, city administrations often face resource limitations, requiring them to prioritize actions. 

The general objective of PUREPOLIS is to address urban pollution and its associated health impacts more effectively, focusing on co-developing innovative methods and tools that enable policymakers to prioritize actions efficiently​.

The specific objectives of PUREPOLIS are to:

• Co-develop scalable methods and tools with two cities for rapid deployment by local authorities and informed policymaking​
• Engage stakeholders and citizens to tailor results and strengthen uptake through participatory approaches​
• Focus on priority pollutants and assess zero-pollution measures for health, socioeconomic, environmental, and climate impacts, including co-benefits and success factors​
• Integrate socioeconomic and behavioral insights to enhance acceptability and effectiveness of pollution reduction strategies and their related health effects​
• Maximize impact throughout Europe by creating results with strong potential for uptake and upscaling across cities and regions​

Helmholtz Munich is the lead and coordinator of PUREPOLIS, responsible for ensuring the implementation of project activities, completion of tasks, and submission of deliverables. 

Helmholtz Munich is also responsible for Work Package 3, which aims to integrate existing and newly developed epidemiological and toxicological approaches and models to evaluate the health impacts of multi-pollutant exposures in cities, considering socio-economic vulnerability.​ To achieve this aim, we will use various approaches, including agent-based modeling and health impact assessment. 

PUREPOLIS is working directly with two “living lab” cities – Valencia, Spain and Nantes, France. Additionally, three cities are following the project to assess whether its outputs could be adapted to their context: Augsburg and Berlin, Germany and Rybnik, Poland.

Funded by the European Climate, Infrastructure, and Environment Executive Agency; Horizon Europe grant agreement No. 101234870 (Funding period: January 2026 – December 2028).