Heat resilience in nursing homes, schools and daycare centres — Swiss partners with alpine/continental demonstration sites seeking partners for REGEN-01

OST Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (SPF Institute for Solar Technology, IAF Institute of Ageing Research) and the Cantonal Office for Health Promotion and Prevention St. Gallen are preparing a contribution to HORIZON-NEB-2026-01-REGEN-01 on heat resilience in buildings housing vulnerable users (nursing homes, daycare centres, schools). Our approach combines nature-based, passive and bioclimatic cooling measures with indoor climate monitoring, building simulation and participatory co-creation involving residents, children, staff and facility managers — ensuring solutions are technically sound, affordable, accepted in daily use and transferable across European contexts.

We bring: candidate demonstration sites in nursing homes, schools and daycare centres in a continental/alpine climatic zone, backed by a cantonal public health authority responsible for the cantonal heat action plan; a monitoring methodology that works without pre-existing heat maps; building simulation and life-cycle assessment; co-design and acceptance research with heat-vulnerable groups; and, where hybrid solutions are needed, expertise in PV-coupled cooling to minimise operating costs and carbon footprint.

We are looking for: partners in Southern European climatic zones with their own demonstration sites; architects and landscape architects working with nature-based, bioclimatic or vernacular approaches; heritage conservation expertise; municipalities; and SMEs in passive cooling, greening or circular construction. We are open both to completing a consortium of our own and to joining a consortium already forming for this topic.