Making Urban Heat Visible with Community, Creativity and Research

​During summer, heat surrounds us. We feel it on, and in, our bodies. Heatwaves can overwhelm our senses and threaten our health, but unlike other (un)natural disasters, such as floods, they are hard to visualize and describe.

​This 90-minute workshop, led by the Wellcome-funded Melting Metropolis project team, will allow participants to interrogate the possibilities and pitfalls of making urban heat visible as a rallying call for climate action. It draws on Melting Metropolis’s innovative research, community, creative and policy approaches to understanding the multifaceted problem of urban heat.

​Following a brief introduction to the project, participants will take part in an interactive reflective session led by artist Harun Morrison. We then move to a roundtable with members of the wider Melting Metropolis team, including researchers and creatives, as we launch our Heat Stories report, followed by a Q&A. Participants will leave with greater insight into the importance of human-centred approaches to making heat visible.

​The workshop will feature live illustration from Elly Bazigos, an award-winning illustrator and Melting Metropolis collaborator.

​Participants: Eleanor Barraclough (Roundtable Chair); Elly Bazigos (Illustrator); Danny Cumming (MM researcher); Lianne De Vera (MM Community Partner, Living Centre, Somers Town); Chloe Duteil (MM researcher); Deepika Kanthavara Madhava (MM Community Partner, Living Centre, Somers Town); Harun Morrison (artist); Chris Pearson (MM Lead); Jon Winder (MM researcher).

​Brought to you by Solutions House, funded by Wellcome.