IWBI Calls for Healthier Indoor Air in Schools

Following the Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air’s launch of its Global Framework for Action, Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and Co-Chair of the Global Commission, has called on governments and education leaders to adopt a forward-looking “health-first agenda” for schools and other educational institutions around the world.

Hodgdon delivered the message during the UN High-Level Side Event “Healthy Indoor Air in Schools: Every Breath Shapes Learning,” held on September 24, 2026. Her remarks drew on the Global Framework’s roadmap and emphasized the need for systemic improvements to indoor environments in schools and other learning spaces. The UN event brought together government representatives and experts to examine indoor air quality in relation to public health, education, biosecurity and climate resilience.

Expanding the Health-First School Agenda

IWBI was among the organizations involved in convening the inaugural Healthy Schools for Healthy Kids Summit in Washington, D.C., earlier this summer. The gathering focused attention on the role of healthy school environments and helped establish the foundation for a broader health-first agenda.

At the UN event, Hodgdon called on policymakers, researchers, advocates and other stakeholders to continue developing this agenda. The proposed priorities extend beyond indoor air quality alone and include school modernization, healthier building materials, ventilation, emergency preparedness, resilience, lighting, acoustics, pollution prevention and remediation of longstanding environmental hazards.

The agenda also highlights the need for greater technical assistance for schools and communities, together with additional research into the factors that influence health and learning in educational environments.

According to IWBI, the objective is to place health and well-being more firmly within decisions about school infrastructure and modernization rather than treating these considerations as secondary issues. Hodgdon's remarks emphasized the role of healthy indoor environments as a foundation for students' ability to learn and thrive.

Global Attention on Indoor Air in Schools

The UN side event brought together ministers, members of parliament and senior government officials from France, the United Kingdom, Montenegro and Eswatini, alongside researchers, advocates and other international experts.

Other participants included fellow Global Commission member Dr. Ian Longley of the Air Quality Collective and Air Club Co-Founders Dr. Georgia Lagoudas and Dr. Bronwyn King.

Their participation highlighted the increasingly broad scope of the indoor-air discussion. Indoor environmental quality is being considered not only as a building-management issue, but also in relation to public health, education, pandemic and biosecurity preparedness, and climate resilience.

The event's organizers also highlighted Montenegro's national initiative on healthy indoor air in schools and the potential for open-source air-cleaning and monitoring solutions to be adapted in other school systems.

From Framework to Action

The latest call follows the Global Commission's development of the Global Framework for Action, which is intended to provide a roadmap for coordinated action on healthy indoor air. The September UN event placed particular emphasis on translating that broader framework into practical measures for educational settings.

For IWBI, the focus on schools reflects the organization's wider health-first approach to buildings and communities. The initiative seeks to encourage decision-makers to consider indoor environmental conditions alongside modernization, sustainability and resilience when planning and upgrading educational facilities.

With governments, school systems, researchers, nonprofits and industry representatives participating in the discussion, the UN event provided a platform for expanding international cooperation around healthier learning environments.