As extreme heat episodes become more frequent and intense across the Mediterranean, local authorities need practical, evidence-based tools to plan, prioritise and implement effective responses. To support this effort, EuroVértice, in the frame of the HEATSAFE project, has published a new “Catalogue of measures to be applied and prioritised in extreme heat conditions”, a decision-support tool designed to help municipalities identify the most suitable actions for their local context.
The tool provides local entities with a structured database of measures that can be adopted at municipal level to prevent, reduce and respond to the impacts of high temperatures. It brings together solutions drawn from different plans, strategies and good practices, offering municipalities a practical starting point to strengthen their resilience to heatwaves.
One of the main strengths of the catalogue is its multicriteria assessment system, which helps users prioritise measures according to social, environmental, economic and governance criteria. Each of the 141 measures has been assessed on a scale from 0 to 3 against eight criteria: urban cooling potential, increase of green and blue spaces, coverage of vulnerable groups, population reached, implementation cost, funding availability, feasibility and time required for implementation.
By default, all criteria have the same weight. However, municipalities can adapt the prioritisation process to their own needs. For example, a municipality may choose to give more importance to social coverage, environmental impact or implementation feasibility. Based on these preferences, the tool calculates a final score and ranks the measures according to their relevance.
The catalogue includes different types of measures, such as preventive actions, ready-to-go measures, and communication and awareness-raising actions. These measures are also classified according to budget effort, risk level and applicable municipal sectors, including public buildings, urban planning, education, social services, emergency and police services, parks and green spaces, transport, occupational risks and coordination.
The tool is structured into four modules:
- Module 1 – Municipal Profile allows users to enter information about their municipality, helping the tool identify the measures that are most relevant to its specific characteristics.
- Module 2 – Weights enables users to adjust the importance of each assessment criterion, depending on local priorities.
- Module 3 – Results presents the measures selected for the municipality, ranked according to their final score.
- Module 4 – Catalogue works as an independent searchable database, allowing users to explore all available measures and apply filters by sector, type of action, budget category or other criteria.
Through this tool, HEATSAFE aims to support local governments in making informed decisions and moving from planning to action. The catalogue is especially useful for municipal technicians, policy makers and departments involved in climate adaptation, urban planning, social services, emergency response, public health, education, tourism and environmental management.
The tool is available here: https://heatsafe.interreg-euro-med.eu/what-we-achieve/
