People’s living conditions affect their physical and mental health. Considering that Europeans spend 60-90% of their time indoors, the quality of indoor space and ensuring good ventilation and adequate heating is very important. By 2020, 80% of Europeans are expected to live in urban areas. There are big inequalities in the quality of indoor and outdoor living conditions, as people in low income areas often have limited access to green spaces, which has been shown to impact health and general well-being. Policies and initiatives are therefore needed that improve living environments and that can encourage people to adopt healthier and more environmentally friendly behaviours.

The INHERIT consortium is investigating what kind of policies and interventions that works to address these environmental stressors and the connected inequalities in health, for example how urban spaces can be used more sustainably to provide cleaner air, reduce noise, improve physical and mental health, and provide local food produce.