GREENICON workshop in São Paulo strengthens international collaboration on greening, clean air and healthy cities

Researchers from the Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE) at the University of Surrey took part in the 3rd GREENICON Workshop at USP Cidades, University of São Paulo, on 17 June.

The workshop brought together collaborators from the University of Surrey, University of São Paulo, and North Carolina State University to discuss progress and future directions for GREENICON: Modelling the interconnected continuum from outdoor to indoor environment for enhancing greening interventions for healthy communities.

GREENICON is a University Global Partnership Network-funded project led by Professor Prashant Kumar, Director of GCARE and Co-Director of the Institute for Sustainability at the University of Surrey. The project explores how outdoor greening interventions influence indoor environmental quality, thermal comfort, and human health, recognising that people spend most of their time indoors while indoor conditions are strongly shaped by outdoor factors such as air pollution, heat, noise, vegetation and urban form.

The São Paulo workshop opened with a welcome from Professor Roberta Kronka Mülfarth from the Faculty of Architecture, Urbanism and Design at the University of São Paulo, followed by a presentation from Professor Prashant Kumar on the current progress and future direction of GREENICON.

GCARE researchers then shared insights on urban climate, air quality and nature-based solutions, with contributions from Anubhav Dwivedi, Lucy Green, and Soheila Khalili. The workshop also included presentations from USP researchers on the links between greening, architecture, health and performance; semi-outdoor spaces and wellbeing in workplaces; and sustainable growth scenarios for cities in São Paulo.

The discussions highlighted the importance of studying the outdoor–indoor continuum rather than treating outdoor and indoor environments as separate systems. This approach is central to GREENICON’s ambition to generate transferable, evidence-based strategies for healthier, more inclusive and climate-resilient communities.

The workshop also provided an opportunity to strengthen staff and student exchange, develop shared case-study thinking, and identify future collaborative research opportunities between the UK, Brazil and the US.

This work at Sao Paulo workshop is underpinned by several flagship GCARE projects. GREENICON (Greening for Indoor Comfort and Health) Funded by the UGPN Research Collaboration Fund 2024, GREENICON brings together experts from civil & environmental engineering, computer science, architecture and urbanism, social science, and health science to explore how outdoor greening interventions influence indoor environments. GP4Streets (DIY Greening Prescription for Climate Adaptation in Urban Streets) is led by GCARE in partnership with the Universities of Bath, Sheffield, UWE Bristol and Imperial College London, and is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) – including NERC, AHRC, EPSRC, ESRC and MRC – and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) under the Maximising UK Adaptation to Climate Change initiative (grant reference UKRI1281). The GREENIN Micro Network Plus: Transformation of indoor environments in a changing climate is funded by UKRI (EPSRC) and explores how indoor plants and greening can improve health and environmental quality in homes and workplaces. RECLAIM (Reclaiming Forgotten Cities – Turning cities from vulnerable spaces to healthy places for people) is a UKRI (EPSRC, NERC, AHRC) Network Plus grant that provides a ‘one-stop shop’ for towns and cities seeking evidence and tools – including the Urban Greening “How-To” Toolkit – to design, deliver and scale green-blue-grey infrastructure for healthier, more climate-resilient communities.