HEARTH Newsletter
Issue 3, August 2026
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Welcome to our third newsletter
Welcome to our third newsletter
Welcome to the third newsletter of the HEARTH Hub on Net Zero, Health and Extreme Heat. Following our Spring update, summer 2026 has been a period of intensive field deployment, active stakeholder collaboration, high-impact policy engagement, and international knowledge exchange.
Over recent months, the HEARTH team has deployed environmental and microclimate monitoring across a range of case study settings, advanced thermal modelling across key housing and healthcare archetypes, expanded physiological fieldwork protocols, and launched our Early Career Researcher (ECR) Network.
This issue highlights key developments from across the Hub, including progress within our working groups, co-design and stakeholder workshops, contributions to policy and practice, media engagement, and research presented at national and international events.
Thank you for your continued engagement with HEARTH. We hope you enjoy reading about our latest activities and progress.
Professor Rajat Gupta
Director of HEARTH
HEARTH Working Groups and Early Career Researcher Network
HEARTH Working Groups and Early Career Researcher Network
To foster multi-sector alignment and ensure research directly supports decision-makers, HEARTH's Working Groups, including the London, Care Settings and Hospitals working groups, held key meetings over the summer. These brought together senior national, regional and healthcare leaders to share emerging evidence, identify priorities and strengthen collaboration between research, policy and practice.
Hospitals Working Group (HWG)
Chaired by Professor Shakoor Hajat (LSHTM), the HWG held its first meeting on 11 May 2026 (30 attendees), followed by its second meeting on 16 July 2026 with over 25 partners. Stakeholders include representatives from NHS England, NHS Estates and Facilities, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, regional Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), and UKHSA public health teams.
Discussions highlighted practical cooling interventions from the ARCHI Project, NHS Trust adaptation strategies, and system-wide collation of evidence from NHS EPRR Core Standards reports.
Hospital Working Group Meeting 2,
16 July 2026
London Working Group (LWG)
Chaired by Professor Anna Mavrogianni (UCL), the LWG held its first meeting on 12 May 2026 to outline regional priorities, followed by a second meeting on 6 July 2026 with 24 key stakeholders, including representatives from the Greater London Authority (GLA), UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), local borough councils, and housing associations.
Discussions focused on London’s Heat Ready London strategy, local heat health action plans, multi-sensor land surface temperature mapping, and integrating heat resilience into local housing retrofit schemes (Warmer Homes London).
London Working Group Meeting 2,
6 July 2026
Care Settings Working Group (CSWG)
Chaired by Professor Mike Davies (UCL), the CSWG held its second meeting on 8 June 2026 with key partners including adult social care providers, local authority adult social care departments, housing association care teams (such as Housing21), and the Climate Change Committee (CCC).
Discussions focused on national climate risk evidence (CCRA4 / Well-Adapted UK), expanding real-time environmental monitoring across extra-care and domiciliary settings, and evaluating low-energy cooling interventions for vulnerable residents.
Care Setting Working Group Meeting 2,
8 June 2026
Inaugural Early Career Researchers (ECR) Network Launch
On 15 July 2026, Professors Anna Mavrogianni and Rajat Gupta launched the HEARTH Early Career Researchers (ECR) Network.
The network brings together post-doctoral researchers and PhD scholars across institutions, launching an ECR-led flagship paper, cross-disciplinary mentoring, and networking activities.
Early Career Researchers Network Meeting 1, 15 July 2026
Highlights from Co-Design Workshops
Highlights from Co-Design Workshops
Heat Safe Homes / Cool Pack Workshop
Convened on 17 June 2026 in collaboration with Oxfordshire County Council, this interactive workshop brought together 28 local authority officers, public health leads, adult social care teams, and community partners.
Discussions focused on identifying key heat vulnerability indicators across local housing, evaluating low-cost passive cooling interventions, and co-designing practical cooling intervention packages ("Cool Packs") to protect heat-vulnerable residents during extreme summer heatwaves.
Westminster City Council Cool Pack
ARCHI–HEARTH NHS Staff Workshops
Co-hosted with the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust across two interactive sessions on 27 April and 22 June 2026, these frontline healthcare workshops brought together clinical staff, facilities managers, and estates teams to examine operational heat risks in healthcare settings under ARCHI (Adaptation for Resilience and Equity in Communities and Health Infrastructure) project.
Discussions centered on staff uniform overheating, thermal comfort during clinical shifts, clinical medication storage risks, operational disruptions during heatwaves, and empirical findings on physical cooling interventions across hospital estates.
UK Health Security Agency Workshop on Overheating in Hospitals
On 28 April 2026, HEARTH healthcare settings researchers participated in a UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) workshop in London on overheating in hospitals, alongside researchers from the ARCHI and HPRU programmes.
The workshop examined hospital building archetypes and approaches to assessing overheating risk, helping to identify areas of complementarity across the research programmes.
The meeting established ongoing collaboration between HEARTH, UKHSA, ARCHI and HPRU teams, helping to align research activities, share learning and avoid duplication of effort
HEARTH Research Hub Showcased Nationally and Internationally
HEARTH Research Hub Showcased Nationally and Internationally
HEARTH researchers have actively shared cutting-edge findings and research insights at major UK and global forums, elevating the dialogue around climate adaptation, heat resilience, health equity, and net zero goals, while continuing to represent HEARTH across leading national and international platforms.
HEARTH Team Drives Climate Resilience Across London Climate Action Week 2026
The HEARTH team made wide-ranging contributions across London Climate Action Week 2026 (20-28 June 2026), driving critical discussions on climate adaptation, built environment risks, and public health. This included Professor Anna Mavrogianni joined an expert panel at the Sidara Collaborative HQ on "Designing for 2050 climates: Are we missing the real risks?" during an actual London heatwave, which highlighted low industry confidence in future building performance and the urgent need to address compounding infrastructure risks and social inequities.
In tandem, HEARTH team led key sessions at the panel co-hosted by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the Cambridge Sustainable Design Group titled "Health and Climate Action for Equitable Heat-Resilient Futures." At this event, Professor Anna Mavrogianni highlighted the critical structural mismatch of modern building stocks trapping severe summer heat, while Professor Shakoor Hajat co-chaired the landmark session.
Dr Hannah Marshall also presented HEARTH’s work, with Professor Sari Kovats, Dr James Milner, Dale Hoyland, and other team members contributing to discussions. Their collective work supported the Heat Ready London partnership and efforts to improve heat vulnerability assessments and protect healthcare estates.
Professor Anna Mavrogianni on the expert panel discussing building performance risks during the London Climate Action Week (left), and Professor Shakoor Hajat co-chairing the "Health and Climate Action for Equitable Heat-Resilient Futures" session co-hosted by LSHTM and Cambridge (right).
Keynote Presentations and Panel Sessions
Professor Rajat Gupta delivered closing keynote on HEARTH's "region to room" framework at the Healthy Homes Hub Summer Exchange (22 June 2026, London), and an expert panel session on "Top Questions in Healthy Building Research" at the Healthy Buildings Network Showcase (2 July 2026, Leeds).
Professor Anna Mavrogianni chaired the afternoon sessions and panel discussion at the Hot Brain 4 conference (12 May 2026, UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences, London), focusing on the physiological mechanisms through which climate change affects human and brain health.
Professor Rajat Gupta presenting the HEARTH "region to room" framework during his closing keynote at the Healthy Homes Hub Summer Exchange in London (left), and participating in the expert panel on healthy building research at the Healthy Buildings Network Showcase in Leeds (right).
Oral Presentations
Professor Rajat Gupta delivered a lightning talk on HEARTH’s research vision at the Healthy Buildings Network Showcase (2 July 2026, Leeds), and an oral paper titled "Building Heat Resilience in Older People’s Housing" at the British Society of Gerontology Annual Conference (BSG 2026), held between 24 and 26 June 2026 in Oxford.
Professor Anna Mavrogianni delivered oral presentations across major London conferences, presenting on both the HEARTH Hub and the ARCADE project at the Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRC) and the Local Authority Public Health Research Network (LAPHRN): Making Research Stronger Together conference at London South Bank University (6 May 2026, London). Professor Mavrogianni also shared findings on overheating and cooling demand in homes and care homes drawing on ClimaCare, CS-NOW, and ongoing HEARTH Hub research at the CIBSE Decarbonisation and Heat Pump conference (29 April 2026, British Library, London).
Dr. Giandomenico Vurro delivered an oral presentation on spatial vulnerability research (co-authored with Dr. Clare Heaviside) at Geographic Information Science Research UK (GISRUK 2026) conference in Birmingham (14 and 17 April 2026), showing how environmental dataset selection directly impacts London urban heat adaptation planning.
Professor Rajat Gupta at the British Society of Gerontology Conference in Oxford (left), Professor Anna Mavrogianni at the CIBSE Decarbonisation Conference in London (center), and Dr. Giandomenico Vurro presenting at GISRUK 2026 in Birmingham (right).
Global Knowledge Exchange
Expert Keynote and Oral Presentations
Professor Rajat Gupta delivered keynotes and led panel discussions at the 38th International Passive and Low Energy Architecture Conference (PLEA 2026), held between 27 and 31 July 2026 in Costa Rica). These included an invited keynote on "Addressing Overheating, Extreme Heat and Health Inequalities", as well as chairing plenaries at multipple sessions.
He also delivered multiple oral research presentations at the PLEA 2026 conference, including two peer-reviewed papers on indoor air quality in green apartments in Delhi and care home cooling strategies during heatwaves.
Poster Presentations
Professor Rajat Gupta presented a Hub-level poster titled "Extreme Heat, Health Inequalities, and the Net Zero Transition: Future Directions" at the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy Summer Study (ECEEE 2026) at the Center Parcs, Lac d'Ailette in the Hauts-de-France region, held between 1 and 6 June 2026, France.
Professor Cathryn Birch and Dr. Caryl Reddington presented a research poster on "Humid Heatwaves in the UK: Meteorological Drivers and Health Impacts" at the European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2026 (EGU26) , held between 3 and 8 May 2026 in Vienna, Austria.
Professor Rajat Gupta keynoting at PLEA 2026 in Costa Rica (left), presenting at the ECEEE Summer Study in France (center), and Dr. Caryl Reddington with Prof. Cathryn Birch at EGU 2026 in Austria (right).
Selected Publication
Peer-reviewed research from the Hub has been accepted for presentation at several major conferences throughout 2026, covering the breadth of the Hub’s interdisciplinary programme:
Flagship ECEEE Publication: Published a 33-author HEARTH paper in the ECEEE 2026 Summer Study Proceedings titled "Extreme Heat, Health Inequalities, and the Net Zero Transition: Future Directions" (Led by Professor Rajat Gupta).
Policy, Industry Standards and Media Impact
Policy, Industry Standards and Media Impact
HEARTH research is actively shaping policy, national standards, and public understanding of heat risks:
London Heat Ready Strategy: HEARTH is featured as a key delivery partner in the Mayor of London's Heat Ready London / London Heat Plan, supporting the assessment of heat vulnerability across healthcare and residential estates.
Shaping National Adaptation Policy (A Well-Adapted UK): Published in May 2026, the Climate Change Committee’s (CCC) landmark CCRA4 report warns of escalating thermal risks, including up to 10,000 annual heat-related deaths and 92% home overheating by 2050. HEARTH team members (Professors Anna Mavrogianni, Mike Davies, Rajat Gupta, Sari Kovats, Shakoor Hajat, and Dr Clare Heaviside, and Dr Andrew Ibbetson) served as co-authors, reviewers, and committee members, embedding HEARTH research as a core scientific foundation for national adaptation priorities.
Shaping National Standards (BSI PAS 20501): HEARTH was represented by Dr Hugh Sharma Waddington at the BSI PAS Climate & Health Standards Steering Group meetings, held in May 2026, contributing to the development of standards in this area.
London Assembly Inquiry Evidence Submission: On 1 May 2026, Professor Anna Mavrogianni led a multi-institutional submission to the London Assembly's Call for Evidence, "Are London's Homes Ready for a Heatwave?"", drawing on HEARTH, ClimaCare, THERM-UK, ARCADE, and PAICE research to inform regional housing adaptation policy. The submission was developed collaboratively by researchers and stakeholders from UCL, OBU, LSHTM, UoL, and Oxfordshire County Council. It highlighted key evidence on overheating risks in homes, heat resilience, and the implications of extreme heat for public health, contributing to policy discussions on preparing London's housing stock for a warming climate.
Media and Public Outreach
Professors Anna Mavrogianni, Rajat Gupta, Dr Clare Heaviside and other HEARTH team members provided expert commentary on passive cooling, cool roofs, urban heatwave, and heat safety across national and international media, including London Centric, iNews, Making Housing Better podcast, The New York Times, Reuters, BBC News at 6pm , BBC News London, and The Atlantic,.
High-Level HEARTH Workstream Updates
High-Level HEARTH Workstream Updates
HEARTH’s interdisciplinary workstreams continue to progress crucial research linking climate scenarios, indoor environments, and health outcomes:
Climate and weather scenarios: Processed meteorological, rainfall, and soil moisture data from recent UK humid heat events, contrasting drivers against dry heatwaves (e.g., July 2022), and analysing UKCP18 climate projections for future extreme events.
Local outdoor environments: Constructed high-resolution 1 km surface temperature fields across London using multi-sensor satellite data. Modeled neighborhood geometry for key London case studies (ENVI-met) and deployed 11 local environmental sensors across urban green spaces and tree canopies.
Indoor heat exposure and health: Expanded field monitoring to 23 active households in a new development in East London and multiple care homes and extra-care facilities. Deployed corridor sensors demonstrating vertical heat-trapping in multi-story blocks, while initiating non-invasive physiological health measurements during live monitoring sessions.
Health impacts and mitigation tools: Advanced global evidence mapping on cooling interventions using EPPI-Reviewer and conducted systematic reviews of 98 decision-support tools managing heat risks within Net Zero frameworks.
Future interventions and solutions: Completed EnergyPlus thermal modelling evaluating passive shading interventions in residential settings and executed a formal Data Sharing Agreement with the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) to support future urban modeling.
Stay in touch
Stay in touch
For more information about HEARTH, upcoming events and opportunities to collaborate, please refer to the project or contact the HEARTH team at:
Contact:
Professor Rajat Gupta, Director of HEARTH
Oxford Brookes University,
Headington, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK
Email: rgupta@brookes.ac.uk
Website: www.hearth.ac.uk
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