Abstract
Research suggests that non-acoustic factors can have a considerable effect on community attitudes and opinions towards aviation noise and that these can be influenced through processes of communication and engagement. This paper reviews literature from various fields to identify the key elements of effective practice, using them as a lens through which to assess case study noise management actions conducted at European airports. This analysis found that communication and engagement holds significant potential for noise management, but that this remains largely unfulfilled due to such methods being used as an ancillary management activity, rather than as a powerful tool to aid in the design and delivery of noise management actions. A series of recommendations and research priorities are proposed that could shape the future of noise management, including potential changes to European policy that more explicitly advocate for communication and engagement as a noise management tool in its own right.
Highlights
IntroductionMaiden flight [2], and today, just 47 major European airports are responsible for exposing approximately 2.52 million people to noise of 55 dB LDEN [3], a figure that can be put into perspective through a 2018 WHO recommendation that noise in areas around airports should be limited to 45 dB LDEN to avoid adverse health impacts [4]
This paper looked at some of the theory surrounding communication and engagement and through this lens assessed how case study airports in Europe use communicative tools to enhance noise management, either as management interventions in their own right or as aspects of other noise management interventions, such as those defined by the ICAO Balanced Approach
The literature implies that communication and engagement has the potential to enhance the acceptability or effectiveness of management interventions; the cases explored in this paper suggest that communication and engagement activities are not implemented consistently, and when they are used, they are not executed with the same rigour as attempts to address acoustic factors
Summary
Maiden flight [2], and today, just 47 major European airports are responsible for exposing approximately 2.52 million people to noise of 55 dB LDEN [3], a figure that can be put into perspective through a 2018 WHO recommendation that noise in areas around airports should be limited to 45 dB LDEN to avoid adverse health impacts [4] These health impacts can be significant, are increasingly well documented [4,5,6], and can include stress-related effects outside the hearing system that can play a key role in health outcomes, such as sleep disturbance, cardiovascular diseases, and cognitive impairment in children [7,8]. A key determinant in such factors is noise annoyance, defined as a feeling of displeasure, nuisance, disturbance, or irritation caused by a specific sound [9].
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