On November 23 this year, the Minister of Climate and Environment and The Institute of Environmental Protection – National Research Institute signed a contract for the implementation of the Laboratory of Low Emission Zones project. The project received funding from the EEA Financial Mechanism 2014-2021, Bilateral Cooperation Fund and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014-2021 under the Environment, Energy and Climate Change Programme. The main objective of the project is to equip Polish local governments with the knowledge and skills required to create Low Emission Zones (LEZ).

Representatives of the cities will get acquainted with the whole spectrum of issues related to the creation and functioning of LEZ. The axis of the project is not only knowledge transfer, but also joint thinking about the best solutions for creating low emission zones in Poland based on foreign experience. The added value will be the involvement in the project of representatives of European cities where such zones operate successfully. They will share their experience, present best practices and point out mistakes that can be avoided (the so-called lessons learned).

One of the important elements of the project will be a study visit to Oslo, Norway. The acquired knowledge and best practices will be reflected in the report, which is to be a useful tool for Polish local governments in creating LEZ (the so-called guide book).

The purpose of this project is to make people aware of the benefits of introducing low emission zone in the short and long term, therefore as an important element of the project there will be an educational and informational campaign addressed to residents of cities where LEZs may be created.

Thanks to the project, local governments will be equipped with the necessary competences in the field of reducing emissions and noise from transport in cities. The project will strengthen the involvement of local government units in the decarbonisation of the transport sector in Poland and will contribute to achieving the goal of climate neutrality in 2050 for the entire EU and the goals of other strategic documents – both European and national.

The “Laboratory of Low Emission Zones” project will be implemented in cooperation with two partners: Polish Alternative Fuels Association (PSPA) and Norwegian Electric Vehicle Association (Norsk elbilforening).