Berlin Heat Risk Clinic
Berlin Heat Risk Clinic
From fragmented signals to shared preparedness
This session is part of the Public Vitality Camp 2026 and is convened by Dark Matter Labs with nextlearning e.V.
Shaped by repeated cycles of collapse and rebuilding, Berlin carries a deep memory of responding to crises. Building on this history, Dark Matter Labs and nextlearning are exploring a whole-of-society approach to long-term heat resilience, spurred by record-breaking heat in western Europe in June 2026. Berlin already has substantial heat-response capabilities across public, civic and urban systems, yet cross-sector coordination remains limited.
How can Berlin connect existing capacities, lived experience and institutional action so that heat resilience becomes a shared, long-term capability rather than a collection of isolated responses?
This invite-only session brings together civil society, public institutions, private actors and municipal government to pool perspectives, map existing capacity and identify critical gaps. Together, participants explore what coordination and learning infrastructure is needed to strengthen long-term heat resilience across the city.
Welcome perspectives
The working language of this session is English, with openness to contributions in German. We particularly welcome perspectives on heat resilience, risk analysis and cross-sector coordination, including:
Berlin district and Senate administrations
civil protection and emergency preparedness
climate adaptation and urban resilience
critical infrastructure and essential services
civil society and mutual-aid networks
data, sensing and early-warning approaches
research on systemic risk, heat and preparedness
No prior knowledge of risk-sensing frameworks is required. Particularly valuable are experiences from situations where heat, infrastructure, public services and community capacity interact; especially where coordination gaps become visible across organisational boundaries.
Important notes
The Camp format is a volunteer-developed prototype and intentionally simple in how it is organised. Please bring your own food and drinks, and feel free to bring something to share.
The Public Vitality Camp is a shared learning space for people already working on societal, institutional, technological and ecological challenges. Across the sessions, we work on concrete questions and tensions and explore what enables people, institutions and communities to remain capable of acting under increasingly difficult conditions – and how decisions made today expand or constrain future possibilities.
Here you can discover further sessions and register or apply to participate.