Citizen engagement in the context of heat adaptation was identified as a key component for addressing the wide-ranging impacts of extreme heat and for ensuring the effectiveness of local measures. Within the Ready4Heat project, the pilot cities of Hajdúböszörmény, Maribor, and Weiz conducted a series of citizen engagement workshops between late 2023 and early 2024 to support participatory planning and facilitate knowledge exchange.
These workshops served multiple purposes, including raising awareness of heat-related risks, collecting locally grounded ideas for adaptation measures, and building networks among stakeholders relevant for implementation. In Hajdúböszörmény, nine workshops were carried out with specific target groups, including vulnerable populations and professionals working with them, as well as outdoor workers. The process highlighted a strong demand for infrastructural improvements, such as reducing sealed surfaces, increasing green and shaded areas, creating water-based cooling features, and improving building performance. A cross-cutting need identified by all groups was access to targeted information on heat risks. Participants also contributed spatial input by identifying priority locations for green infrastructure on maps.
In Weiz, ten workshops engaged a broad range of sectors and institutions, including municipal administration, care facilities, educational institutions, emergency services, and private companies. Both short-term and long-term measures were identified, such as increasing shaded public seating, improving access to drinking water, introducing volunteer-based support systems, expanding urban greenery, and integrating heat protection into building regulations. Awareness-raising through regional media was also proposed.
In Maribor, ten workshops were conducted, primarily within stakeholder institutions to ensure accessibility and participation. Around 80 participants from institutions, the general public, media, and municipal departments contributed to the process. Key outcomes included proposals to expand green spaces, improve shaded resting areas, strengthen neighborhood support systems for vulnerable populations, and ensure access to cooled indoor spaces in public and care facilities.
The participatory approach demonstrated a replicable model for municipalities to integrate local knowledge, stakeholder perspectives, and community needs into the development of heat adaptation strategies.