What to do in urban heat stress? - Two videos and a manual provide important advice - Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development

At the end of the HeatResilientCity II project, which was led by the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), the project partners have compiled important findings from the total project duration of more than five years and summarised them in two explanatory videos. In addition, a heat manual provides information on the health consequences of heat in the city and gives recommendations for action.

Animated film scene: A boy sits sweating at a table, the sun shines through the window. — Drawing: N. Bongaerts/IOER

Protagonist Uli works up quite a sweat. The sun is shining mercilessly, he is hot. This is the opening shot of the two explanatory films made at the end of the research project HeatResilientCity II. The animated films illustrate how summer heat becomes a burden in urban neighbourhoods and in living spaces. They also show what suitable adaptation measures look like and who can act in what way.

The first of the two clips shows what building planners, property managers and housing associations can do against heat in living spaces. Tips on how to behave properly in hot weather also help residents to effectively reduce heat stress. Video number 2 explains how heat stress occurs outside buildings. It also shows what can be done to keep the impact as low as possible. On the one hand, this concerns the design of neighbourhoods. But residents can also reduce heat stress by adapting their behaviour.

The videos were created under the direction of the IOER. Expertise was also provided by the project partners, above all Dr Astrid Ziemann from the Chair of Meteorology at Dresden University of Technology and Stefanie Kunze from the Faculty of Civil Engineering at HTW Dresden – University of Applied Sciences. The drawings were created by Nicolaas Bongaerts from the IOER. The animation of the drawings was done by the company youknow from Munich.

The films are available on the Youtube channel of the IOER.

Link to the video "Was tun gegen Hitze in Wohnräumen?" (What to do against heat in living spaces?)

Link to the video "Wie die Wissenschaft die Hitzebelastung in der Stadt untersucht" (How science studies heat stress in urban areas)

Cover sheet of manual on heat adaptation with a map showing overheated streets in red colour. — Source: City of Dresden

Manual on heat adaptation published

In addition, the HeatResilientCity project has written a “Manual on Heat Adaptation” for Dresden. The brochure provides information about the climate in Dresden, gives a brief introduction to the health consequences of high temperatures and uses the example of the Dresden-Gorbitz district to show which factors influence heat stress. This is followed by recommendations for action in the areas of health, care, social affairs, education and housing.

Further information (in German) on the heat manual on the website of the state capital Dresden

Scientific contact at the IOER
Dr Regine Ortlepp, e-mail: R.Ortleppioer@ioer.de

Background

The HeatResilientCity project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the European Union. In addition to the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development in Dresden, the project network comprises: the Institute for Urban Research, Planning and Communication of the University of Applied Sciences Erfurt (ISP), the Chair of Meteorology of TUD Dresden University of Technology, the HTW Dresden - University of Applied Sciences, the Environmental Office of the City of Dresden, the Environmental and Nature Conservation Office of the City of Erfurt as well as the Railway Workers’ Housing Cooperative (Eisenbahner-Wohnungsbaugenossenschaft) Dresden (in Phase I) and the Office of Health and Prevention of the City of Dresden (in Phase II). The project was honored with the 2022 German Sustainability Award for Research.

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