Thermometer
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Ready4Heat

Project overview

Development of municipal strategies and action plans to improve heat resilience in cities

Global warming comes with more frequent and intense heat waves. Cities in central Europe need to adapt but many still lack efficient strategies and action plans to protect their citizens from heat. The Ready4Heat project helps them to introduce tested short-, medium- and long-term measures with a focus on the most urgent issue: sudden heat waves. The project makes proven and tested measures such as heat warning systems accessible to all cities and helps them to adopt these quickly.

2,04m €

Project Budget

80%

of the Budget is funded by ERDF

Layer 1

4

Countries

6

Regions

9

Partners

4

Pilots

Duration

Start date

End date

Project progress

57%

Project partnership

Project partners

Slovenija (SI)

Lead partner

Development agency Sinergija

Address
Kranjčeva 3
9226 Moravske Toplice
Country
Slovenia (SI)
Web
https://www.ra-sinergija.si/

Project partner

Address
Ulica arhitekta Novaka 2b
9000 Murska Sobota
Country
Slovenia (SI)
Web
www.czr.si
Total partner budget
199,500 €
Address
Ulica Heroja Staneta 12b
2000 Maribor
Country
Slovenia (SI)
Web
www.maribor.si
Total partner budget
219,523 €
Adaptation to climate change
Address
Galvanistr. 28
60486 Frankfurt am Main
Country
Germany (DE)
Web
https://www.climatealliance.org
Total partner budget
210,000 €
Climate protection and adaptation to climate change
Address
Marktplatz 2
67547 Worms
Country
Germany (DE)
Web
https://www.worms.de
Total partner budget
220,000 €
Address
Schumanngasse 3
8010 Graz
Country
Austria (AT)
Web
www.klimabuendnis.at/steiermark
Total partner budget
197,400 €
Location development Weiz
Address
Hauptplatz 7
8160 Weiz
Country
Austria (AT)
Web
www.weiz.at
Total partner budget
220,080 €
Address
Bartók B. u. 7
9024 Győr
Country
Hungary (HU)
Web
http://reflexegyesulet.hu/
Total partner budget
180,012 €
Address
Bocskai István tér 1
4220 Hajdúböszörmény
Country
Hungary (HU)
Web
www.hajduboszormeny.hu
Total partner budget
301,819 €

Roadmap

1

The challenge: Heat waves in urban areas

Global warming comes with more frequent and intense heat waves. Cities in central Europe need to adapt but many still lack efficient strategies and action plans to protect their citizens from heat. The Ready4Heat project aims to support four cities in developing a local heat-health action plan and to implement pilot actions.

2

Creating a strategic action plan

This strategy paper formulates the lessons learned during the creation of the heat action plan in Worms, one of our pilot cities. The document provides insights into the creation and implementation process and emphasizes the importance of understanding local structures and involving stakeholders. It discusses the requirements for creating a Heat Action Plan, including the need for time, personnel and funding, as well as recommendations for external support and clear responsibilities. It provides a distinct basis on which the other three pilot cities of Weiz, Maribor and Hajdúböszörmény can build their own heat action plans.

3

Running train the trainers workshops

In our Train-the-Trainers workshops, we aimed to disseminate valuable insights and expertise on developing effective Heat Action Plans, drawing from our successful experience in Worms. These workshops served as a platform to transfer knowledge to representatives from three other pilot cities. By sharing the intricacies of our heat action planning process, we aimed to empower these cities to create their own comprehensive Heat Action Plans tailored to their unique circumstances. The collaborative initiative reflects our commitment to fostering resilience in the face of rising temperatures and ensuring that cities globally are equipped to tackle the challenges posed by extreme heat through strategic planning and coordinated efforts.

4

Compiling heat maps for each city

In order to develop the most efficient heat adaptation strategy possible, the pilot cities need to know where the heat spots are in their respective cities. To this end, we used satellite images to analyze the heat levels in the different parts of the city and assess where measures are particularly necessary and where vulnerable infrastructure and groups are located in the heat spots. In addition, a climate ensemble was created to illustrate the coming changes and show how climate change can influence important indicators such as heat days or tropical nights in the coming decades. The Results can be found under "Outputs"!

5

Stakeholder participation in the pilot cities

Citizen engagement in the context of heat adaptation is of paramount importance due to the multifaceted and far-reaching consequences of extreme heat. For this reason, the Ready4Heat pilot cities Hajdúböszörmény, Maribor and Weiz carried out citizen engagement processes. As a first step, kick-off events were held in summer 2023. This was followed by stakeholder and citizen engagement workshops in late 2023 and early 2024.

6

Implementing pilot actions

To address heat and health issues, the cities of Hajdúböszörmény, Maribor, Weiz and Worms are working on pilot actions in order to try out suitable and transferable measures helping to combat heat. These measures are documented in pilot actions concepts.

7

Drafting heat-health actions plans

Based on the citizen engagement processes and the strategy and action plan, the pilot cities Hajdúböszörmény, Maribor and Weiz are developing local heat-health action plans, including a warning system, a steering group and a catalogue of measures.

8

Advanced trainings

Online trainings for multipliers (working with vulnerable groups) will be organised in each pilot city, to enable them to implement health-related protection measures.

9

Transferring the results

In a policy brief and transnational webinars, the project experiences will be shared and recommendations for measures will be given.

News

Pilot actions

Outputs

Municipal heat strategies and action plans for the mitigation of heat waves

Three local heat strategies and actions plans (for the cities of Hajdúböszörmény, Maribor and Weiz). Each document covers a strategic and structural part, as well as an action plan with concrete measures to improve the situation caused by heat waves. The development of the plans is based on a broad stakeholder participation process as well as discussions within the projects co-working groups. A heat and climate analysis of the pilot cities areas, as well as a strategy and action plan concept (which outlines the development and implementation process of a heat-health action plan and reflects the experiences made by the city of Worms) support the output development.
Type of output: Strategies and action plans
In development

Solutions recommended for better planning the measures against heat waves

Policy brief recommending meausures and actions to protect citizens against heat waves. The recommendations are based on the pilot actions implementation experiences (of the cities of Hajdúböszörmény, Maribor, Weiz and Worms) and are discussed and developed within the projects co-working groups.
Type of output: Solutions
In development

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Ready4Heat

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Project Contacts

Project Manager

Katja Karba
Phone: +38625381356

Finance Manager

Katja Karba
Phone: +38625381356

Communication Manager

Wolfgang Hofstetter
Phone: 0049 69 71713913