Q&A: The overlooked networks of heat resilience within communities
As extreme heat becomes more frequent and severe, many people are turning to informal adaptation strategies—rigging up plastic sheeting overhead for shade, sharing water at a community tap and creating neighborhood cooling areas.
Extreme heat waves are becoming more frequent and intense, prompting many people to adopt informal, grassroots methods to cope, such as setting up shade, sharing water, and constructing neighborhood cooling areas. A commentary published in Nature Climate Change argues that these informal adaptation strategies are not mere placeholders for more comprehensive solutions—they are crucial work that formal systems often overlook.
Brianna Castro, an assistant professor of urban sustainability, co-authored the commentary and discussed the importance of closing the gap between informal and formal adaptation efforts. While formal adaptation encompasses heat action plans, cooling centers, labor regulations, and infrastructure investments, informal adaptation encompasses locally driven measures like reinforcing roofs with plastic sheeting, taking breaks during peak heat hours, pooling resources for water at communal taps, and transforming spaces into cooling shelters when official options are lacking.
In reality, these two systems are not mutually exclusive; rather, they frequently intersect, with informal practices bridging the gaps left by formal systems that are either absent, underfunded, or rigid. Formal programs often rely on informal networks to effectively reach communities. The authors argue that informal adaptation should not be viewed as a stopgap measure but as essential work that demands recognition and investment.
The authors outline three key institutional shifts to enhance equitable heat resilience: acknowledging informal knowledge and practices as legitimate, redirecting funding and technical assistance to those currently bearing the costs of adaptation, and establishing decision-making processes that enable informal actors to influence priorities and hold institutions accountable for the outcomes.
By doing so, these changes would empower communities to shape adaptation initiatives rather than having them imposed from external sources.
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