Transition Town Tooting

Tag: Urban Heat

  • Urban Heat Research Report Published

    Today the Policy Studies Institute publish their research report Urban Heat: Developing the role of community groups in local climate resilience. It’s a readable, accessible and expert report.

    TTT are proud to have been able to contribute to this valuable piece of work, hosting and facilitating community conversations, mainly in 2015, about the increasing risks posed by localised heat in cities – including neighbourhoods like Tooting – in our warming climate.

    Cold weather challenges are much better recognised by most of us, including health and social care professionals, in terms of individuals’ vulnerability. So it was useful to be part of research showing that urban overheating is a significant risk, and we can take action to reduce its impact.

    We commenced the project in a cold spell in winter two years ago, when the priorities seemed very different. It was hard to visualise that later the same summer we would hold a workshop near Tooting Broadway on the hottest day of 2015. Very appropriate!

    Funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Urban Heat project examined the potential role of the local voluntary and community sector (VCS) in the development of local climate resilience.

    In Tooting the research engaged with over a dozen relevant community organisations with diverse services and areas of focus: health care, social care, low-carbon living, community development. A number of local individuals were interviewed as well. Finally, a group of Wandsworth local authority and statutory organisations also explored the impact of Urban Heat.

    To read our past TTT blog posts about the whole project since its inception, please click here.

    Other partners in the Urban Heat research programme explored the same topic in Hackney and in West London, all co-facilitating alongside the Policy Studies Institute team.

    Finally, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation funded a sister research project at the same time, about ‘Climate Resilient Communities’. This was developed in the context of local flooding in the Scottish Borders, mostly rural, but much of the experience and lessons are relevant to all communities working proactively with practical climate challenges. We’ll share that report when it is published.

  • 3 current and vivid research projects about climate change and UK communities – Tooting included

    In 2015 TTT helped facilitate a research project by the University of Westminster all about the impact of urban heatwaves – for the details please see past blog posts by clicking here on Urban Heat.

    TTT worked with the researchers and with many local partners in Tooting: voluntary and community groups plus borough-level and statutory bodies.

    The funder for this research project is The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and yesterday TTT took part in a workshop comparing the early research results of three JRF-funded projects.  
    Each of them explores the links between climate change and UK communities and households. Each aims to give new information to local and national policy makers.
    Participants included national bodies such as Public Health England & Defra, & the Cabinet Office, local authorities and universities.

    An overall view? That there are synergies of relationships between all the topics outlined below..and that communities with local knowledge and energy have an opportunity to get involved and contribute.

    One project is looking at the impact of climate change on UK households’ cost of living between now and 2050.
    A valuable prediction so far is that lower-income households will experience the most impact, on part because a larger percentage of their budgets goes on climate change-sensitive expenditure – for example food costs (negative impact because of UK and global events), or energy (a positive impact as winters will be warmer), or repairs after flooding (very negative impact if a low-income household has no insurance).

    Workshopping in Tooting

    The second project looks at how to enable climate resilient communities.
    The research area covered three towns and villages in a single large rural local authority that spans the Scottish Borders, and a main focus turned out to be the impact of local flooding which was taking place at the end of ’15 as the research groups were meeting.
    Flooding is a known risk, is recognised and visible, and has a funding stream with tangible (sometimes debated) results…so gives a definite point of focus to rally around.
    Local responses to flooding also led to valuing other aspects of community resilience such as the local ‘creative capital’ – the energy the community can generate to work together in new ways.
    Anyone else reminded of ‘Tour de Tooting’ and ‘Rooting in Tooting’?

    Thirdly, the Urban Heat project has worked across 3 diverse London boroughs: Tooting, Hounslow and Hackney. Like the Scottish research taking place amidst flooding in Hawick, one of our meetings took place on a day the temperature reached 30 degrees C – designated a risk by the heat health warning system.
    Findings include that yes, voluntary groups are interested and understand the impact once they can explore it in depth. So do the borough and other bodies..however the way these two ‘slices’ of the local community can work together is not yet defined.

    Heatwaves are not perceived in the same way as flooding – heatwaves seem to ‘just happen’ (in fact we may want some warmer weather), we soon forget them, we don’t realise the impact can be so serious, the responsibility for policy and communication is not so clear.
    Yet in 2003 2,000 people in the UK died in heatwaves; a far greater number of tragic fatalities than in recent UK flooding.

    We’ll share links to these research results when they are formally published.

  • Urban Heat 2nd October ’15: our third Tooting workshop on community-led approaches to urban heatwaves

    Today we hosted the third workshop in the Urban Heat research project. This is an 18-month research process into community-led responses to urban heatwaves, with a particular focus on the local impact on vulnerable people. The research is led by the Policy Studies Institute at the University of Westminster, with funding from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
    For the details of the wider project, please see our short posts on the two previous workshops in June and July. TTT has been inviting and convening local groups to take part, and hosting the events.

    Today’s workshops saw diverse Tooting community organisations meet a group representing the strategic and borough-wide institutions who have a mandate to act on heatwaves alongside many other priorites.
    This was not intended to be adversarial…! The purpose was to bring together key players who respond at different local and city ‘levels’ to heatwaves, all in the interest of local people’s wellbeing and health.

    The community groups summed up their ideas and proposals identified so far, and these were grouped into three themes:

    • Bridging and making connections
    • Communications and awareness
    • Resources and infrastucture

    Everyone present discussed each theme in detail – so we can all understand, anticipate and respond to the impact of urban heatwaves, together. There was a lot to talk about!
    The research team will be summing up points made and actions proposed. This is ‘action research’ – it is up to us all locally to decide which of these ideas are most valuable and can be put into practice, while the researchers continue with the next steps of the project.
    We’ll keep you informed.

    Represented today were: Age UK (Wandsworth), Be Enriched, Emergency Planning at St George’s Hospital Trust, Furzedown Low Carbon Zone, Housing Strategy & Development at London Borough of Wandsworth, Neighbourhood Network SW17, Public Health at London Borough of Wandsworth, Thinking Works and Transition Town Tooting. Thank you all!

  • Urban Heat Workshop 2

    Last week, on appropriately the hottest day of the year, we held the second of our Urban Heat workshops, led by the Policy Studies Institute at the University of Westminster
    (See http://www.psi.org.uk/site/project_detail/urban_heat for more details).

    This project work is taking place in Tooting, Hounslow and Hackney and will also engage with the local councils, emergency services, and other public bodies to see how actions for and by the community could feed into their emergency plans.

    A range of different community groups have so far been involved in the research (check out the logos above) and last Wednesday produced some useful brainstorming around the issues, resources and possible actions in our local community’s response to extreme heat.  

    One of the interesting and energy generating exercises involved mapping the local area, identifying both community resources such as large indoor spaces (bingo hall, mosque) and problems (no shade & few plants in the High St., air pollution).

    Interviews with community members and a further workshop in September are the next steps in this project.  If you are interested to find out more, do contact us via transitiontowntooting@gmail.com

  • Urban Heat in Tooting

    Today we facilitated our first workshop on a new project in Tooting which aims to explore how communities can best deal with the impact of heatwaves. Called “Urban Heat” the project is funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and run by the Policy Studies Institute at the University of Westminster (See http://www.psi.org.uk/site/project_detail/urban_heat for more details).
     
    In an age when average global temperature is on the rise, the workshops will look at the effect of heatwaves on communities, particularly with regard to more vulnerable members of our society. Tooting is one of three locations chosen to participate alongside Hounslow (with South West London Environment Network) & Hackney (with Age UK). 

    Workshop held at CFC in Tooting today

    In parallel, the project will also be working with the local councils, emergency services, and other public bodies to see how actions for and by the community could feed into their emergency plans.

    Today was a successful first foray into this area, on an appropriately warm day, if not anywhere near the heatwave threshold for London of two consecutive days at 32°C or above.  We look forward to the second workshop on July 1st and aim to disseminate some of the findings and developments via this blog.

    If anyone reading this is interested in taking part please do contact Charles to find out more via transitiontowntooting@gmail.com
    DT