A European research project on heat stress and urban climate adaptation has started in Antwerp, focusing not only on how residents experience rising temperatures but also on how the knowledge of people with a migration background can inform solutions.
The HARARA project, which will run over two summers in Antwerp and Rotterdam, involves temperature measurements in homes and neighbourhoods, alongside interviews with residents about how they cope with extreme heat.
About 20 local “climate ambassadors” are taking part in Antwerp, installing sensors in living rooms and bedrooms in districts such as Borgerhout and Deurne-Zuid. Partners include the University of Antwerp, Erasmus University Rotterdam and socio-cultural organisation Empact.
With heatwaves increasingly pushing temperatures above 30 degrees, researchers say dense urban areas with little greenery can become particularly difficult to live in. “The debate surrounding climate adaptation is still very top-down and is dominated by a strong focus on technological developments,” says researcher Carlotta Smalen. “As a result, we are missing the opportunity to learn from valuable intercultural knowledge within communities themselves. By seeking out this existing knowledge, we hope to empower communities.”
The project asserts that residents with migration backgrounds often bring experience from regions where extreme heat is more common, offering practical coping strategies. These include dietary habits such as drinking ayran or hot tea, but also everyday practices like slowing down activity during peak heat, using water to cool streets, or adapting housing designs with smaller windows or shaded interiors.
“When it comes to heat, people who have migrated themselves or frequently visit family abroad have much more experience with how to deal with it,” says project coordinator Lore Van Praag. “They come up with practical strategies that we in Flanders don’t immediately think of.”
“We primarily see people with knowledge, experience, and solutions"
Rather than treating residents as passive victims of climate change, the project aims to involve them as active contributors. “People with migration roots often already possess a great deal of knowledge regarding climate issues,” says Empact project officer Havva Akçaoglu. “We are not working top-down, but together as equal partners. It is research about them, by them.”
Empact director Latifa El Morabit adds that communities are too often described as groups that need to be “reached”. “We primarily see people with knowledge, experience, and solutions,” she says.
\u200b#FlandersNewsService | Park Spoor Noord, Antwerp © PHOTO WERNER LEROOY
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