Reducing Vulnerability to Extreme Heat through Interdisciplinary Research and Stakeholder Engagement

Extreme heat is a leading cause of weather-related human mortality in the United States and many countries worldwide. To reduce the negative impacts of extreme heat on human health, it is essential to understand which populations are most vulnerable. In this presentation, we discuss the interdisciplinary facets of extreme heat vulnerability, present a conceptual and analytical framework for characterizing and reducing urban vulnerability to extreme heat, and provide an example of an interdisciplinary project that examines current and future extreme heat risk within the context of North American cities. We focus on a science-policy interface of heat-health research by highlighting the stakeholder engagement as a critical component of the entire research process. We conclude with observations on how this research framework and the stakeholder engagement process can be applied to other public health and hazardous weather studies where decision-making is informed by science.