Co-creating inclusive local climate adaptation practices to deal with experienced heat

forthcoming

European societies, especially in urban areas, are disproportionately affected by the impact of global warming. Global warming can be felt by how people experience heat at home - which is often a combination of the temperature and air humidity in their residence. Experienced heat and heat stress may vary across people’s houses, also depending on the adaptation strategies they apply and affect people’s health outcomes and experiences. Migrant populations, ranging from migrants to their descendants, are often excluded from current data collection and measures, creating environmental injustice, and in turn strengthening social and ethnic inequalities in societies. The HARARA project aims to contribute to the EU Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change by supporting regions such as Belgium and the Netherlands, and more specifically, their cities and local authorities, to become more resilient in the face of climate change impacts. HARARA will systematically integrate insights from multiple disciplines (sociology, ecology, biology, urban planning, etc.), as well as societal and educational institutions, to first empirically assess both subjective and objective climate impacts on migrant groups. Afterwards, a citizen science approach will be taken to empower local migrant communities to actively participate in and contribute to inclusive climate policies of the future through the development of inclusive climate adaptation practices. The inclusive climate adaptation practices will be included in the EC Mission Portal; triangulated with stakeholders, presented in policy briefs and a Toolkit for schools, two sustainable and inclusive fairs, and reports for non-academic audiences. Furthermore, HARARA sets up transdisciplinary knowledge hubs, supported by integration specialists or Gluon researchers, that secure future regional collaborations and transdisciplinary research practices.