Advancing knowledge and tools for the adaptation of Swedish cities to heat (project BRIGHT)

Increasing temperatures present significant challenges to cities, amplified by built-up surfaces, urban heat islands and densely populated areas.

The impacts of the record hot summer of 2018 have raised the need and urgency of Swedish cities to implement efficient climate change adaptation solutions.

Realising this challenge, the BRIGHT project aims to contribute with new knowledge, optimized methods, enhanced tools and user tailored data that enable Swedish municipalities to better adapt to heat waves.

A prototype visualisation platform will be co-produced with stakeholders from the large metropolitan area of Stockholm, and the medium-sized cities of Linköping and Norrköping.

The urban climate will be simulated with an event-based dynamical downscaling technique, while a citizen sensing mobile application will engage inhabitants in providing feedback on thermal comfort.

BRIGHT’s interactive tool will enable the exploration of novel ways of integrating high-resolution modeling and monitoring data, offering a unique basis for comparison and cross-case learning.

It will support the identification of vulnerable sites and provide assessments of adaptation options and their effectiveness, but also potential side effects on air quality.

By gathering a multidisciplinary group of scientists and practitioners, and building on advanced modelling, sensing, adaptation and communication, BRIGHT will ultimately be contributing to the healthy, sustainable and resilient cities of the future.