Spring 2024 Speaker Series
Climate Lessons for Our Cities: Global Perspectives on Climate Change in Urban Environments
This spring, the Center for Urban and Regional Analysis (CURA) and the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center are hosting a series of presentations from international scholars and practitioners who are experts in climate related topics and their impacts on urban areas.
Cities play a crucial role to addressing extreme heat as they are both, part of the problem and part of the solution. Since over 50% of the global population resides in urban agglomerations, addressing the extreme heat challenges is of paramount importance for well-being and the overall sustainability of urban environments.
This lecture will revolve around three key components:
- Heat Action Plan (HAP) as a tool for planning and managing extreme heat and mainstreaming / integrating the HAPs with the urban planning policies
- Extreme heat challenges faced by cities
- Course of action for urban planners to tackle heat-related challenges
Dr. Rajashree Kotharkar (architect and urban planner) is a Professor at the Department of Architecture and Planning, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) Nagpur, India. She works in the realm of urban environmental research exploring the impact of urban morphology on heat stress distribution, outdoor thermal comfort, heat risk perception, heat vulnerability and sustainable urban development. She has completed multiple research projects funded by national and international funding agencies like Department of Science and Technology GoI, World Bank, American Red Cross, etc.
Her current work focuses on heat wave studies, developing and implementing intervention policies for urban heat risk mitigation and adaptation. She is an expert committee member for review of National Disaster Management Authority guidelines on heat wave preparedness. She is also an Energy Conservation Building Code trainer and part of the expert committee in State Disaster Management Authority of Maharashtra and National programme on climate change and human health.
Click on the image above for the PDF flyer.
