Practical Steps for Healthier Homes
Indoor air pollution is often invisible but it has a real impact on your health every single day. Join us for an interactive, hands-on evening exploring what's in the air at home, and what you can do about it.
Date
Thu 18 June 2026
Time
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Where
Imagine Leeds, LS2
Spaces limited to around 30 people
Dr. Claudia Castro Faccetti
Founder, CELIA CIC
Dr. Carolina Montoya Pachongo
Faculty of Biological Science, University of Leeds
Co-organised by
Healthy Buildings Network Leeds
University of Leeds
Community Environmental Learning
and Impact Alliance CIC
This event is part of Clean Air Day — the UK's largest air pollution campaign, bringing communities together every June.
About the Workshop
Most of us think of air pollution as an outdoor problem. Car fumes, factory smoke, smog. But the air inside our homes is also affected by pollution. Everyday activities such as cooking, cleaning and even just breathing can generate pollutants that build up invisibly around us.
This workshop is not a lecture. It is an evening designed around hands-on exploration: we will journey through the rooms of a home, uncovering the activities and household items that affect the air we breathe, get creative modelling pollutants in clay, and use live sensors to measure the air around us. Along the way, we will explore what it all means for our health and its surprising links to the wider climate.
Whether you are a concerned resident or someone who just wants to breathe easier at home, you belong here. You will leave with a clearer picture of what is happening in your home and a set of practical, easy steps to make a difference.
No background in science needed — just curiosity and a desire to breathe cleaner air.
Accessibility
Step-free access is available at the rear of Imagine Leeds. Please get in touch if you have any specific needs.
90%
of our time is spent indoors, yet indoor air quality is almost never discussed
2–5×
indoor pollutant concentrations can be 2–5× higher than outdoors
Low cost, high impact
The most effective home air quality interventions cost little or nothing, you just need to know them
What to Expect
01
A clear, jargon-free introduction to indoor air pollution — what it is, where it comes from, and why it matters.
02
From kitchens to bedrooms to living spaces, a room-by-room exploration of the everyday sources of indoor pollution that most people never think about.
03
Learn how sensors can be used to measure what's in the air and see in real-time how the sensor measurements respond to different activities in the room.
04
Model PM, VOCs, mould, and viruses using creative materials. Science you can touch, build, and actually remember afterwards.
05
With modelling clay, use your creativity to model air pollutants — making what is in the air visible and tangible.
Evening Schedule
Doors open
Grab a drink, settle in, meet the team
Indoor Air 101 + Live Quiz
A friendly intro with audience participation
A Tour of the Home
An illustrated journey through the rooms of a home — uncovering what's in the air and how it impacts our health
Live demos and hands-on activities
Sensors in action, creative clay modelling, and exploring the air around us
Discussion and practical takeaways
Share your experiences and leave with easy steps to make a difference at home
Close
Your Speakers
CELIA CIC
Founder & Director, CELIA CIC
Claudia founded CELIA CIC — the Community Environmental Learning and Impact Alliance to build a bridge between environmental science and the communities it most directly affects. CELIA is a not-for-profit community interest company registered in England and Wales, delivering inclusive education that equips people with essential digital skills alongside the environmental awareness needed to create a more sustainable future.
Claudia's work is rooted in the belief that science should be accessible, participatory, and useful to real people, not just published in journals. Expect insights grounded both in research and in lived community experience.
About CELIA CIC
A not-for-profit community interest company (registered in England and Wales) delivering inclusive education at the intersection of digital skills and environmental awareness — equipping people and communities to build a more sustainable future.
celiacic.org →University of Leeds
Faculty of Biological Science, University of Leeds
Carolina is a researcher in the Faculty of Biological Science at the University of Leeds, working at the intersection of environmental biology, community science, and urban health. Her current research focuses on air quality, noise, and biodiversity monitoring across Leeds with a distinctly participatory approach that puts communities at the centre of data collection and decision-making.
"I'm working on a project about participatory monitoring of air quality, noise, and biodiversity in Leeds."
Carolina brings both the science and the community-facing methodology to the evening — her work on participatory monitoring means she understands both what's in the data and what people actually need to know to use it.
In Practice
From a previous workshop at a local school — hands-on, creative, and genuinely engaging.
Dr. Claudia Castro Faccetti
Founder, CELIA CIC
The setup
Activity stations, sensors, and creative materials
A city without air pollution
Artwork by workshop participants
A city without air pollution
Artwork by workshop participants
Hands-on modelling
Visualising invisible pollutants
Live sensor demonstration
Measuring air quality in real time. Image from https://breathesafeair.com/airvisual-outdoor-review/
Images from a previous CELIA CIC and HBN Leeds workshop
Getting There
9 Blenheim Terrace
Next to the little Tesco
Leeds, LS2
About the venue at Imagine Leeds →Clean Air Day · 18 June 2026
A free evening of science, sensor demos, hands-on activities, and practical knowledge you'll actually use.
Imagine Leeds · 9 Blenheim Terrace · Thursday 18 June · 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Register — it's freeAround 30 spaces available
HBN Leeds
healthy_buildings_network@leeds.ac.uk
CELIA CIC
celiacic.org