Sustainability
Research for a tolerable urban climate
The summer of 2022 made it very clear just how much cities can heat up during the summer – a trend which will intensify due to man-made global warming. Accordingly, adaptation measures are urgently needed, for example to minimize the number of heat-related deaths and hospital admissions and to maintain the quality of life in summer.
Among other things, the Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of Bern (OCCR) looks into how towns and cities should be planned so that the heat remains bearable. A further research focus of the OCCR is the interdependence between global warming, urban climate and health issues.
In September 2022, results of recent and ongoing research projects from both Switzerland and other countries were presented and discussed under the title “Beating the Heat”. The conference focused on networking within the interdisciplinary research community as well as between science and practice.