Residential training on Climate Resilient Cities Adaptive and Mitigative Approaches for a Warming Habitat

Cities face immense vulnerability in the wake of climate change, with far-reaching consequences for infrastructure, lives and environmental well-being. A United Nations report warns that at 1.5°C warming, 2.3 billion people could suffer severe heat waves. The report also predicts a potential 4°C rise in warming in cities by century-end if greenhouse gas emissions persist at current levels.Elevated temperatures in cities can pose challenges such as heat-related illnesses, increased cooling energy demands, water shortages, and economic consequences. The dire situation is exacerbated by concretisation, shrinking of green spaces and waterbodies, lifestyle changes, and a shift towards air conditioning and cars.

There is an urgent need to tackle cities’ heat-related challenges with the help of adaptive and mitigative measures. This can be done through modification of bye-laws, strategic planning, innovative building design, harnessing solar potential in buildings and public spaces, and integration of sustainable cooling systems, among others. These measures can play a key role in safeguarding public health, enhancing urban liveability, building resilience to climate change, and contributing to national climate goals.

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is offering a four-day training programme that will provide participants with holistic knowledge for designing climate-resilient and resource-efficient urban habitats. It will capture how better layout planning, optimisation of using green and blue infrastructure, incorporation of energy-efficient low-carbon techniques, transitioning towards renewable energy, and appropriate building design can -- together -- contribute to an enhanced urban environment and the overall well-being/liveability of its occupants.

Salient Features of the Course

• Cities and climate change: Policy levers and opportunities
• Understanding the drivers of heat gains, reductions, sources and sinks in an urban context
• Leveraging remote sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to map heat-stressed areas and heat sinks
• Exploring measures to reduce heat and retrofit existing urban layouts
• Introduction to low embodied carbon materials, design and construction: traditional, hybrid and emerging technologies.
• Enabling thermal comfort to reduce operational energy in buildings: passive design techniques, Eco Niwas Samhita.
• Exploring the potential of renewable energy in urban settings
• Estimating the potential of solar energy for decarbonization

COURSE COORDINATOR

Ms. Sayani Sen
Programme Officer
Sustainable Habitat Programme, CSE
+91 8240061255 / 7278204216
sayani.sen@cseindia.org

COURSE DIRECTOR

Rajneesh Sareen
Programme Director
Sustainable Habitat Programme, CSE
rajneesh.sareen@cseindia.org