Environmental noise is currently high on the European agenda. The European Commission is revising the Vehicle Noise Directive and the Environmental Noise Directive. Last April, the World Health Organisation released a new report entitled “Burden of disease from environmental noise” pointing out the serious health problems caused by, among others, traffic noise. The WHO report says that traffic noise causes every year the loss of at least one million healthy life-years in Europe.
The road community is well aware of its crucial role in reducing traffic noise. Nevertheless, industry alone cannot entirely solve this problem: road users, public authorities, urban planners, traffic managers, building constructors have their role to play as well.
A real and tangible effect in noise reduction could only be achieved by a common effort and a shared responsibility of all actors involved.
This ERF-STOA Workshop, hosted by Salvatore Tatarella, Member of the European Parliament, will be a unique opportunity for EU policy makers, industry representatives, NGOs and experts in the field, to share opinions and ideas towards a systemic approach to reduce traffic noise and to ensure European citizens a quieter and healthier environment. |
