Be Ready Strategic Framework for UHI Mitigation and Adaptation in Danube Region Cities

Hot summers are becoming the new normal. Streets that once offered relief now store heat, nights stay uncomfortably warm, and heatwaves increasingly affect our health, daily routines, and public spaces. Cities are warming faster than their surroundings, creating so-called Urban Heat Islands—and this is a challenge that touches everyone.

The Be Ready Strategic Framework is about turning this problem into an opportunity. It helps cities plan smarter, long-term ways to stay cool and livable as the climate changes. Instead of quick fixes, it looks ahead—showing how cities can reduce heat risks while making neighborhoods healthier, greener, and more enjoyable.

At the heart of the framework are simple but helpful ideas: more trees and green spaces, cooler building materials, shaded streets, and public places designed for people, not just traffic. These nature-based and climate-sensitive solutions don’t just lower temperatures—they improve air quality, support wellbeing, and make cities nicer places to live.

Importantly, the framework provides common recommendations for the entire Danube Region, creating a shared foundation for action and cooperation. It serves as a Danube-wide UHI resilience plan, promoting nature-based solutions, climate-sensitive urban design, and resilient public spaces that deliver environmental, social, and health benefits.

Designed as a flexible and transferable tool, the Be Ready Strategic Framework helps local and regional authorities turn EU climate objectives into concrete action, strengthen cross-border cooperation, and build cooler, healthier, and more resilient cities for the future.

Being “Be Ready” means preparing cities not just to survive hotter summers—but to thrive in them, creating cooler, healthier, and more resilient places for everyone.

Find the full Strategic Framework in our library section.