GHHIN hosts webinar on Dialogues on Heat in the City and in the Workplace

On July 28th and 29th, the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) hosted discussions on the urgent challenges of extreme heat in urban areas and in occupational settings. The discussions were moderated by Thomson Reuters reporters, and featured experts from government, academia, and industry.

The Heat in the City dialogue showcased urban innovations in heat health. Speakers presented the state of the practice of increasing resilience to extreme heat in cities across the world, from their diverse perspectives of governance, planning, design, and vulnerable populations. This was followed by a facilitated panel discussion, with opportunities for audience engagement.

The Heat in the Workplace dialogue focused on recent developments in occupational heat health. Speakers gave short presentations on the state of the science, new research outcomes into often overlooked worker populations, and practical interventions into occupational heat health in Europe, Central America and Vietnam. This was  followed by a facilitated panel discussion, with opportunities for audience engagement.

The thematic areas of urban and occupational health were identified during the First Global Forum on Heat and Health, which took place in Hong Kong in 2019. These dialogues were being held in lieu of the planned Second Global Forum on Heat and Health, which was to take place in Copenhagen. The Second Global Forum will take place in the summer of 2021.

The Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN) is a forum that brings together researchers and practitioners from around the world who focus on reducing the health risks of extreme heat. It was developed to integrate with and scale up the U.S. National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS), led by NOAA’s Climate Program Office and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, through a shared framework for organizing outstanding research needs and actions.