Deep Dive: Heat in the City

The Deep Dive celebrated another milestone in the two year long process, with the latest workshop being held in Aswan – Egypt from 21st to 23rd January 2025. The workshop marked the transition from the phase of piloting of solutions towards optimization and upscaling. Participants representing the cities of Nairobi, Aswan, Mombasa, Lüdenscheid, Heidelberg and Lviv (virtually) discussed the results of implementing their pilots. Additionally, participants had the opportunity to learn about projects and initiatives implemented in Aswan governorate that are relevant to sustainable urban development and urban climate action.

Program

The workshop activities were carried out over three days, and included peer advisory activities, presentations and a technical input from Prof. Jürgen Kropp from the  Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in addition to an excursion in Aswan. A series of peer-to-peer exchanges between the participants who are working in different local conditions was facilitated.  During the first day, the participants discussed their key learnings from the implementation of their pilots and elaborated on the measures taken to ensure co-creation with relevant stakeholders and the sustainability of the pilots’ results. Furthermore, a keynote from the deputy governor of Aswan, Mr. Amr Lashin, shed light on efforts to transition towards human-centric urban development in the governorate. The introduction also included a presentation from UDF’s general manager for international cooperation and community participation, Dr. Marwa Soliman, which delved into the role of the Urban Development Fund (UDF) and its numerous projects on integrated urban development and urban climate action.

This was followed on the second day by a series of exercises that guided the participants into identifying areas for optimization in their pilots and methods for upscaling including 1) standardization of design and replication, 2)planning  incremental upscaling, 3) financial and human resources allocation,  4) redefining the anticipated risks given the wider scale of implementation, and 5) monitoring of progress including the definition of key performance indicators.

The final day incorporated a session on reflections from the participants on their experiences throughout the implemented stages of the Deep Dive in addition to a hybrid session with Prof. Kropp, who addressed their questions on various technical topics including 1) using artificial intelligence in climate research and devising of solutions, 2) channeling climate finance to implement measures for mitigation of urban heat, 3) existing affordable solutions that are of high impact, 4) cities and local governments position in international climate talks such as the COP29, and 5) building climate-resilient health systems. These topics will be the focus of a series of virtual sessions that will be held in the upcoming months with Prof. Kropp and PIK.