Workshop on adaptation to heat in Warsaw

At the end of March (31/03/2025) we organized a workshop with local stakeholders, during which Zofia Boni and Zofia Bieńkowska presented the challenges and solutions for adaptation to urban heat in Warsaw, developed within EmCliC+ research task.

The aim of the meeting was to start a discussion and collaboration between scientists, representatives of the City Council and non-governmental organizations on adaptation to the heat in Warsaw, especially considering older people (65+), who are particularly vulnerable to heat stress.

The meeting was attended by representatives of non-governmental organizations working with older people (Mali Bracia Ubogich, Towarzystwo Inicjatyw Twórczych Ę); municipal institutions (Office of Air Protection and Climate Policy, Municipal Greenery Board, Nowolipie Intergenerational Activity Center) and scientific institutions (Institute of Geography and Spatial Organization of the Polish Academy of Sciences; Faculty of Sociology of Adam Mickiewicz University).

During the meeting, we briefly discussed the results of the EmCliC+ project – the main heat-related challenges experienced by older people in Warsaw, adaptation solutions developed during workshops with older adults, and good practices from other cities. We discussed the challenges related to overheating in cities, especially in the context of Warsaw, and the specifics of working with a group of people over 65 years old. Thanks to the participation of people from different institutions, we were able to compare perspectives on what is the biggest challenge in working with this group, for instance the inability to reach people who are most socially excluded, including due to mobility and health restrictions. Then we discussed the adaptation solutions to heat in Warsaw that we propose, including cooling centers, a system of notifications about heat-related threats combined with relevant actions, and greater availability of drinking water in the city. We confronted these ideas with what is already happening in Warsaw (e.g. the pilot project of cooling centers). We discussed potential obstacles to implementing these ideas, for example problems with communicating solutions to people who need them the most. It turned out that this problem could be solved by establishing cooperation between the city hall and the representatives of non-governmental organizations present at the meeting.

The meeting was an opportunity to get to know people working on the problem of heat from different perspectives and to discuss the most important challenges and adaptation solutions to heat in Warsaw. We hope that this meeting will contribute to further joint activities and would like to thank all the participants.