STOP PRESS Our next events are on Tues 7 Oct 2-4pm and 8 Oct 11am-1pm.

Beat the Heat

Community imagined solutions for rising heat and urban health

Let’s chat about our next steps....

Tues 7 Oct 2025 2-4pm

Room 135 / 1073 in University of Southampton’s Sir James Matthews Building / Southampton SO14 7FQ

Come when you can

Please bring your own drink or buy one from the Artisan cafe

Call Rebecca on 07968 777261 if you need help getting to the room

   2pm Welcome

   2.15pm Short talk on what Beat the Heat has done so far

   2.30pm Group discussion / What do you think is important to prioritise?

   3.00pm Break and grab a drink

   3.15pm Short talk on Beat the Heat so far (repeated from earlier) or join a group discussion on planning our next steps

   4pm Finish

Can’t make Tues 7 Oct? We have a smaller gathering on Wed 8 Oct 11am Highfield Campus

Book your space: rebecca@socollective.org.uk

About Beat the Heat

We are working with others in the city - community organisations, local residents, Southampton City Council, University of Southampton, Southampton Climate Action Network, RSA Southampton, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, Solent University, Environment Centre and more - to explore issues to do with heatwaves and health in the Southampton area.

We know that people struggle in heatwaves, and this is particulaly so for the most vulnerable in society. University of Southampton and Southampton City Council has written a report on climate vulnerability, which is available via the Sustainability and Resilience Institute, or get in contact with us and we will share a copy.

On Tues 8 July 2025 we held our first event in partnership with RSA Southampton, where we explored community imagined solutions for rising heat and urban health. This helped shaped the foundations of our project which we hope will have real impact of life in the Southampton area in a warming world.

Through the workshop, we started to identify some opportunities for action this project. There was enthusiasm for the following:

• Continuing to come together as a Beat the Heat community to progress the project, working towards the goal of places that work for everyone (humans and wildlife) even during heatwaves. We have started to develop a Theory of Change, which will help us keep focused on the important steps towards this goal. 

• Learning from people's experiences and established initiatives about adapting to hotter weather

• Hearing from researchers and others who have expertise in the area of heat, urban health and community resilience

• Developing new initiatives and projects in the Southampton and wider Hampshire area, such as trialling interventions in urban areas, schools, housing, health services and organisations, and finding ways to support vulnerable individuals during heatwaves

• Exploring opportunities for policy change, campaigns to raise awareness, and lobbying such as on building regulations, landlord duties and temperature limits for organisations to keep people safe at home, in work, in education and other places where people spend time.

We are currently developing a plan for the next steps and applying for funding to help deliver it. 

If you would like to keep up-to-date about this project or get involved you can sign up here

You can share any personal experiences of life in heatwave conditions through the above sign up form, or drop us an email.

Further information is available by contacting Rebecca Kinge: rebecca [at] socollective.org.uk

About our collaborators

The following organisations are involved in Beat the Heat and we welcome the involvement of local residents and new collaborators.

Southampton Collective is a social enterprise focused on health and sustainability in Southampton. As a community development organisation, we work to make sure that community voices are embedded in the city activities through coproduction processes and co-design. We believe in taking creative approaches wherever possible. We help coordinate Southampton Climate Action Network

RSA Southampton is proud to partner with the Southampton Collective in delivering ‘Beat the Heat’, as is helping us to deliver the Beat the Heat event on 8 July 2025. Fred from RSA Southampton says "As our world warms, the frequency and severity of heatwaves in Southampton and Hampshire is increasing, posing a threat to people, organisations and infrastructure. It is critical that these risks are addressed and encouraging to see a coalition of partners put community experiences and voices at the heart of imagining potential mitigations."

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust: Team Wilder is a national movement led by the Wildlife Trusts. We are all facing a crisis for our natural world. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust wants both wildlife and people to be able to benefit from a healthy environment. They are restoring broken ecosystems and returning missing species. They are putting nature's recovery at the heart of everything they do, recognising that eveybody has different skills, knowledge, and experience to offer. The Wildlife Trust support people in their wilder journey - with wildlife knowledge and expertise in community engagement and campaigning. No one knows your local area better than you and it is your time, voice and action that will make the difference. So join #TeamWilder, a growing national movement led by the Wildlife Trusts and help tip the scales back in nature’s favour. 

Southampton City Council's Sustainability and Natural Environment team are part of this project, and other departments will join in as appropriate. Southampton City Council Public Health Team is interested in collaborating with ‘Beat the Heat’, subject to capacity, given the strong links between heat and health.

University of Southampton (various researchers) are collaborating with this project.

Environment Centre in Southampton provides a Keeping Cool Guide and has recently blogged about about coping in extreme weather: Coping in extreme weather – the Environment Centre (tEC). Their project My Home Made Better is a valuable resource for residents who are interested in improving their home’s ability to keep cool during extremely high temperatures. The scope of their advice includes how large measures such as insulation can keep the heat out (not just in during winter), as well as a wide range of tips and behaviours such as understanding the property’s orientation and making best use of curtains and blinds. They also regularly discuss the benefits of solar panels and the gains people can often make from them. Book a free, 30-minute phone call to get started, or call the Environment Centre on 0800 804 8601. 

Transition Southampton works with others to create positive, sustainable, community-based solutions that tackle climate change and energy scarcity. It delivers a range of projects including Repair Cafes and Green Open Homes Week 13-21 September 

Want to be added to the list of collaborators? Get in touch.

Header image: Pexels/Fauxels