Making air pollution exposure visible: a museum-based intervention for health literacy

Background

Air pollution is a major environmental health risk in Europe, yet individual exposure in everyday urban environments often remains difficult to perceive. This limits risk awareness and the adoption of protective behaviors, particularly for vulnerable groups such as children. To address this gap, an interactive exhibit was developed within a planetary health exhibition to visualize differences in particulate matter exposure along high- and low-traffic routes and to illustrate practical strategies for reducing exposure.

Intervention

The exhibit combines video footage from the perspective of a child in a pram with contextualized data visualizations that compare particulate matter exposure (PM1, PM2.5) along two urban routes to the same destination (low- vs. high-traffic). It aims to make “invisible” environmental risks tangible and personally relevant, linking individual exposure to everyday mobility decisions, including children’s exposure. The exhibit is implemented in a public museum setting and accessible to a broad audience. Visitors spend up to 15 minutes engaging. A mixed-methods evaluation is conducted, combining short pre–post questionnaires (awareness, perceived relevance, behavioral intentions) with brief intercept interviews exploring understanding, emotional responses, and perceived applicability.

Results

Data collection is ongoing. Preliminary findings indicate increased awareness of spatial exposure differences and higher perceived personal relevance after engagement. Qualitative results suggest that the first-person video perspective, particularly from a child’s viewpoint, enhances emotional engagement and supports reflection on vulnerability. Initial observations also indicate a relatively environmentally aware audience. Experience-based, context-specific visualizations can support environmental health literacy in informal settings. Perspective-taking and everyday relevance are key to making risks understandable and actionable.

Key messages

• A museum-based interactive exhibit increases awareness of air pollution exposure and makes otherwise invisible environmental health risks more tangible for visitors.

• First-person video and data visualisation support emotional engagement and reflection on personal and children’s exposure, fostering environmental health literacy.