Be Ready Project Cooperation on Next Level

July 9-10th marked an important milestone for the Be Ready project consortium. Partners gathered in Vienna, hosted by the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) for their first international methodological workshop. The methodology for urban heat islands (UHI) vulnerability and risk assessment, developed by the research partners during the first months of the project, was presented, discussed and validated with city partners and they underwent an interactive training for its application.

The developed UHI city assessment tools take into consideration not just statistical indicators like population density, land use, built-in environment ratio, albedo and heat conductivity of materials, but also the social groups likely to suffer most from urban heat. The methodology also assesses the adaptive capacity of cities and regions – their policy, action plans, and institutional resources. A special emphasis was put on data collection sources that would allow to conduct a valid city UHI assessment using only available and/or open data, since accessing and understanding data can accelerate city climate action.

Partners received guidance and exchanged ideas on launching their local UHI assessment after the summer break – how to secure the citizen buy-in, which stakeholders to engage, how to achieve cross-silo cooperation within the administration, what support to expect from the research partners, how to organize local workshop at marketplaces, museums and other public places, what information materials and campaigns to develop in order to explain their efforts to protect people as well as built and natural systems from the adverse effects of extreme heat.

In September 12 Danube region cities will launch their first UHI risk and vulnerability assessment engaging their local communities and stakeholders.