Climate Refuges

Climate refuges are accessible indoor or outdoor spaces, which offer a “thermal relief” for city residents during heatwaves and other extreme climate events. They are small-scale, urban design interventions, which through green (vegetation), blue (water) and grey measures (improvements in built infrastructure), act as cool islands, helping citizens cope with climate change at the neighborhood scale.

Climate refuges respond to urban environmental injustices by addressing the need for more accessible green and cooling infrastructures, benefitting particularly vulnerable populations such as the elderly, children, and people with pre-existing medical conditions, and other communities that tend to be more affected by climate hazards, including migrant, women and low-income residents.

Research team:

Implementation: Col·lectiu Punt 6
Principal researchers: Ana Terra Amorim-Maia, Isabelle Anguelovski, Col·lectiu Punt 6
Collaborative researchers: James Connolly

Objectives

• Create a Network of Climate and Care refuges in La Prosperitat, linking spaces of everyday use
• Increase the number of spaces in which to take shelter during heatwaves, benefiting particularly the elderly, children and people who are homeless
• Increase the offer of safe, public spaces for the practice and provision of care in all its forms: caregiving, being cared for and self-care.
• Integrate care in climate emergency actions at the neighborhood level
• Encourage intersectional feminist community participation in climate emergency actions
• Create a methodological guide to foster replicability in other neighborhoods and cities
• Link this pilot project with emerging projects that have aligned goals, such as Climate Shelters in Schools

The Network of Climate and Care Refuges in La Prosperitat

This project proposes the creation of a “network of climate and care refuges from a community and ecofeminist perspective” in public spaces in La Prosperitat, a diverse and densely populated neighborhood of Barcelona. Apart from offering shaded areas in which to take shelter during extreme heat, these spaces also offer a safe infrastructure for the development of caregiving and reproductive activities (i.e., caring for dependent people, children, self-care), by providing elements such as drinking water, play areas and seating. The different nodes that will make up the network of climate shelters will be connected to existing public spaces and facilities like school, medical centers, and bus stops, offering safe spaces to walk, rest, socialize and care for others.

The climate refuges will be built through participatory actions, engaging residents of La Prosperitat in the design, manufacture, and installation of the urban elements that comprise each shelter. The project will especially encourage the participation of unemployed women, especially those who have difficulty finding paid work (migrants, caregivers, people with functional diversity or over 45 years of age) and provide a modest financial reward while allowing them to explore new professional profiles in a cooperative environment. The project is expected to support the specific needs and identities of the communities involved (women, elderly, children, and caregivers), and respond to their socio-environmental vulnerabilities while creating opportunities for a more inclusive and caring city.