Introduction:

Hello, here is more information on the project idea and issues we would like to address in our community. Positioned between a web of freeways, a "concrete jungle" and also a city known as "The City of Trees", we would like to focus on urban heat island effect, and gather data on heat, within a city where trees exist and also where they don't exist or are sparse.

Our main concern:

We would like to gain information about how urban heat island effect affects youth, seniors and other vulnerable groups.

Obstacles and supporting information:

We believe that this issue is so important as it greatly impacts our quality of life, health and well being. Heat impacts vulnerable groups such as youth, seniors, communities of color, low income and those without access to things like a car, air conditioning, etc. We want to gather data that can be presented to elected officials to generate the conversation on how to address these concerns and also empower the community to take action, voice their experiences and feel empowered to speak up.

We believe this project can be a success if it is community centered and community driven, and this reflect the needs and desires of community members.

Who is engaged in this concern?

There are various tree planting initiative that seek to mitigate this issue, as well as several mapping tools that present some of this data. However, such tools are not always known, made accessible or easy to understand.

What are the initial questions?

We would like to answer the question, how do various communities experience heat? How does the access they have to green space and tree canopy affect their everyday lives and wellbeing? As they walk to school? Take the bus to doctors appointments? Have a BBQ at a local park? When a heat waves comes and they don't have an A/C unit or can't afford a high energy bill?

[questions:urbanheat, heatisland]