Looking for opportunities: Cooling down our cities

48.8°C in Syracuse, 41°C in Athens, 47°C in Lisbon… we are suffocating! With the rise in heatwaves and extreme weather events, European and Mediterranean cities need to respond with targeted and efficient strategies to ensure citizens’ well-being and health.

Various factors contribute to intensify this suffering and even increase mortality rates:  Health, Conditions of work. Age, Poverty and housing conditions,

We need a strategic transformation of existing urban spaces—often underused or degraded—into more sustainable and livable environments.

We need to equip cities with tools to withstand and adapt to extreme events.

These actions could include working on:

• the creation of a heat crisis plan

• the increase of green and permeable areas

• the index of vulnerability to heat

• the creation of bioclimatic shelters (social and cultural builings)

• the adaptation of housing conditions with solar protection, especially for the unpriviledge and the elderly

• the creation of a system of shaded and comfortable walking and cycling paths such as "Cool Paths"

• the installment of public fountains and watersprays

• the social adaptation to heat: change of working hours

• ...

Based on the experiences of different cooperative projects -especially the interreg EuroMED Cool Noons project - we are looking for projects that aim at cooling down our cities, and make our territories livable.

Looking forward to discuss with you!