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.
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2,04m €
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Project Budget
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80%
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of the Budget is funded by ERDF
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4
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Countries
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6
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Regions
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9
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Partners
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4
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Pilots
Duration
Start date
End date
Project progress
About the project
Project partnership
Project partners
Lead partner
Development agency Sinergija
Project partner
Adaptation to climate change
60486 Frankfurt am Main
Climate protection and adaptation to climate change
Location development Weiz
Roadmap
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.
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.
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.
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"!
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.
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.
Drafting heat-health actions plans
Based on the citizen engagement processes and the strategy and action plan, the pilot cities Hajdúböszörmény, Maribor and Weiz developed local heat-health action plans, including a warning system, a steering group and a catalogue of measures. All Action Plans were adopted by the cities' city councils to ensure long-term impact.
Advanced trainings
Online trainings for multipliers (working with vulnerable groups) organised in each pilot city, to enable them to implement health-related protection measures.
Transferring the results
In 4 policy briefs and transnational webinars, the project experiences are shared and recommendations for measures will be given. Four policy briefs have been launched, presenting concrete, evaluated solutions for better planning measures against heat waves. Developed within the Ready4Heat project, the briefs are based on pilot actions implemented in four European cities—Weiz (Austria), Maribor (Slovenia), Hajdúböszörmény (Hungary) and Worms (Germany). Together, they show how local governments can move from isolated actions to integrated, sustainable heat adaptation strategies.
Policy Briefs Transfer Results from Austria, Germany, Hungary and Slovenia
Four policy briefs have been launched, presenting concrete, evaluated solutions for better planning measures against heat waves. Developed within the Ready4Heat project, the briefs are based on pilot actions implemented in four European cities—Weiz (Austria), Maribor (Slovenia), Hajdúböszörmény (Hungary) and Worms (Germany). Together, they show how local governments can move from isolated actions to integrated, sustainable heat adaptation strategies.
News
Events
Pilot actions
Outputs
Municipal heat strategies and action plans for the mitigation of heat waves
Local Heat Strategies and Action Plans
Three local heat strategies and action plans for the cities of Hajdúböszörmény, Maribor, and Weiz have been developed. 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 was based on a stakeholder participation process, as well as discussions within the project's co-working groups. A heat and climate analysis of the pilot cities' areas, along with a strategy and action plan concept, supported the output development. This concept outlines the development and implementation process of a heat-health action plan (HHAP) and reflects the experiences made by the city of Worms.
The strategy and action plan concept is useful for all municipalities embarking on the journey of designing their own HHAPs as part of their climate adaptation strategies. The blueprint for an HHAP is based on a German project where the city of Worms designed its plan in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Fulda, the University Hospital Munich (LMU), Climate Alliance, and the Rhineland-Palatinate Competence Centre for Climate Change Impacts. This guideline describes the key steps Worms has taken, reflects on the process, and presents valuable lessons learned — providing a solid foundation for municipalities looking to strengthen their resilience against heat waves.
- Maribor: Strategy and action plan
- Maribor: Strategy and action plan (English summary)
- Weiz: Strategy and action plan
- Weiz: Strategy and action plan (English summary)
- Heat and climate analysis of the pilot cities areas
- Concept for strategy and action plan development
- Hajduboszormeny: Strategy and action plan (English summary)
- Hajduboszormeny: Strategy and action plan
Solutions recommended for better planning the measures against heat waves: Policy brief Austria
Solutions recommended for better planning the measures against heat waves: Policy brief Slovenia
Solutions recommended for better planning the measures against heat waves: Policy brief Hungary
Solutions recommended for better planning the measures against heat waves: Policy brief Germany
Project videos
Project documents
Presentations
Brochures, Information Materials
Ready4Heat
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