Summer temperatures are rising: it’s time to adapt!

1.    Starting point: it’s hotter every year – time as a challenge and leverage

Every Summer is getting hotter. On the territory of the MEL, temperature has increased by 2°C between 1955 and 2017 in the City of Lille, and long-term forecasts anticipate between +1.5 to 2.7 by 2055.

Climate change is increasingly having an impact on our daily lives: from practical aspects (e.g. droughts and water-use restrictions, etc…) to health-related aspects (e.g. cardiovascular, respiratory, diabetes-related diseases and mental disorders, etc...). Not to mention the increase in inequalities:  thermal discomfort and its health impact hits first the most fragile population (elderly, fragile health, low socio-economic categories, isolated people...). This is a key challenge for the MEL (95 municipalities and 1.2 million inhabitants), where 20% of the population is below the poverty line compared to 14.2% nationally, and the unemployment rate is 9.1% compared to 7.8% nationally. 

The MEL has long observed that time is a critical factor in climate adaptation, especially considering it is:

• long in terms of daylight and heat;
• short in terms of the urgency to act against climate effects; and,
• flexible in terms of urban installations. There is a potential to limit land artificialisation and bring more summer comfort to citizens, especially fragile inhabitants, through a reinforcement in available cool places.

As such, Time2Adapt uses time-based policies to drive and build solutions with the inhabitants to better live in warmer cities. It will open, create and transform more cool places, shelters for all to enjoy the city. Let’s have a look at the first experimentations of this project, carried out over Summer 2024!

2. What’s there already?

Time2Adapt will work on existing cool infrastructures to improve them and provide extra ones where needed. For this purpose, it needed to carry out an inventory of:

• the offer of existing cool places (parks, gardens, cultural equipment, etc.),
• places with a cooling or opening potential, whose initial use can be adapted to transform them into cool places or make them accessible to the population, whether they are accessible to the public or not.

The Time2Adapt Solution

The project created a virtual map listing the following items: Location and access; Periods and times of opening to the public; Type of activities; Legal entity; Prices; Attendance and uses; Opening or access technical constraint ; Identification of necessary modifications to intensify uses. The data was collected through the existing database of the Geographic Information Department (DIG) of the MEL.

This preliminary analysis is intended to identify potential sites for the densification of the cool places network within the metropolitan area. The outcome of this assessment will inform the selection of locations for experimentation in summer 2025.

The main learnings from the Time2Adapt Solution

Data collection and analysis is complex, especially in relation to service opening hours (sources, updating), and can be costly. It is crucial to define the objectives and methodology of data collection before operationalising it. This allows for more efficient analysis and ensures that the analysis is complementary to other sources of data, such as user data and usage diagnosis.

A step-by-step guide for other cities to implement the same solution

1. Identify what you like to get as insights (grid)
2. Launch the data collection
3. Revise the data collection if needed
4. Analyse the data
5. Integrate the data into the overall project analysis - selection of pilot sites for time-based experimentations

3. Let’s go swimming!

In a metropolitan area such as Lille Metropole, the 25 swimming pools all have their own working hours and own closing procedure (time for the last entry or for the closure). It can be difficult for a user to orient themselves in this diverse organisation.

The Time2Adapt Solution

A page centralising the opening hours of all the swimming pools in the Metropolitan area of Lille was created in 2021. It has been updated within Time2Adapt in order to start reflecting upon the streamlining the opening hours.

The main learnings from the Time2Adapt Solution

The page was well-received by the target audience, indicating that there is a need for improved communication regarding the adjusted opening hours of cool places facilities during the summer months.

A step-by-step guide for other cities to implement the same solution

1. Gather the opening and closing hours of all the swimming pools in the Metropolitan area of Lille
2. Upload them on a single and easily accessible and usable website
3. Communicate about them via social media
4. Reflect upon the experience!

4. How do inhabitants cope with the heat?

Residents of the Metropolitan area have had to cope with Summer heat for years now: they did not wait for Time2Adapt to find solutions to going through the Summer! Their insights are key and the starting point to 1 - actually understanding the area and the issues at stake;2 - to identify the local structures and players who can act as intermediaries with local residents, guaranteeing their participation in projects.

Time2Adapt Solution

The solution combined a series of offline and online activities:

• 6 Mobile stands in July, August and September in 4 neighbourhoods in Lille and 2 in Loos
• 6 urban walks in September-October in 4 neighbourhoods in Lille and 2 in Loos
• 3 workshops with different target groups – residents of a retirement home, volunteers in associations.
• Online survey: accessible online and in person via the mobile stands

The main learnings from the Time2Adapt Solution

It is crucial to discuss and explore, and get to know the neighbourhoods before launching a consultation. For this it is key to work with local stakeholders, public authorities, NGOs or the private sector. Related to this, being present at an existing event increases visibility, even thought Wide and untargeted participative events might be less effective than workshops with representatives of a specific target groups.

In addition, in order to ensure the success of the process, it is essential to adapt your agenda to the weather conditions. For instance, it is unlikely that people will be willing to discuss heatwaves in the rain. Therefore, it is vital to have a flexible participatory process in place.

A step-by-step guide for other cities to implement the same solution

1. Explore the neighbourhoods you wish to target
2. Identify the information that is available, and that, missing.
3. Decide whether to go for quantitative, qualitative data or both
4. Identify the adequate local stakeholders (neighbourhood NGOs) to really engage with the residents
5. Launch the data collection and analyse it, in a triangular way
6. Integrate the data into the overall project analysis – (and to select pilot sites for time-based experimentations later in the project)

5. Back to school!

Traditionally, schools and schoolyards are closed during Summer: these large recreational areas are left abandoned during the Summer. Yet, many people would benefit from their opening: those in areas with no recreational facilities, no socialising activities, with a lack of green areas.

The Time2Adapt Solution

The project opened four schoolyards to the public during the Summer 2024:

• In Lille, schools Ariane Capon and Berthelot from Wednesday to Friday (18h30-20h) and Saturday and Sunday (from 15h to 20h)
• in Loos, schools Voltaire and Sand-Daudet – which was renovated in 2024, every week-end from 15h30 to 19h30

The project has also launched the renovation of two schoolyards with green solutions: Michelet (Loos) and Perrault (Loos).

The main learnings from the Time2Adapt Solution

In terms of accessibility, a schoolyard that is visible from the outside is more attractive. Also, harmonising the opening hours would make everybody’s lives easier – for organization and communication. Furthermore, residents might feel shy about entering a school outside normal hours – paper and in-person communication is crucial. On the contrary, children tend to stay if they are already in the school for a Summer Camp.

The opening of schoolyards relies strongly on the collaboration with school directors and other members of the education community to build trust and evidence of success. At the same time, different departments and elected representatives need to be included to ensure a holistic approach and not to forget anyone in the logistical and practical aspects.

The recruitment of adequate staff is key as well: the deployment of pairs of personnel to oversee the use of the space seems to be the preferred option. Whether administrative staff or especially recruited of it (summer jobs), the need to be properly trained about security, safety, overall project etc.

Flexibility in last minute openings in response to heatwaves can be difficult to achieve. There was an attempt to open school playgrounds in response to a heatwave, but mobilising the necessary human resources was too difficult and the attempt failed.

Last but not least, changing attitudes takes time, and residents do not yet see schoolyards as open and cool places. A radical and immediate increase in the number of visitors should not be expected from the outset.

A step-by-step guide for other cities to implement the same solution

1. The first step is to green these schoolyards. Prioritize the schoolyards, which are in areas with a lack of green/ cool place.
2. Then staff (in Loos) or summer jobs (in Lille) need to be recruited to open and close the site, welcome the users of the sites, to maintain them, answer any question, provide on-going feedback to the cities. By no means should they become facilitators of playful activities.
3. Designing the logistics (key management, opening planning, potential issues and solutions for work over the weekend, toys in the playing box, …)
4. Identify and open relevant (where there is a need but also accessible and well maintained) schoolyards for the experimentation
5. Communicate about them via social media, paper media, in the street and via local NGOs
6. Raising awareness of other the city departments
7. Reflect upon the experience!

6. Enjoying some rest

During heat peaks, residents like to enjoy cool areas: some of them are known to them, others are not; some are well equipped to welcome them; some are more sparing. Developing adequate urban furniture will make them go out and enjoy some fresh air.

 The Time2Adapt Solution

Temporary urban furniture was co-designed, co-created and installed in the Jardin de la Maison Folie Moulins.

The main learnings from the Time2Adapt Solution

Creating urban furniture that is meaningful to residents goes with their engagement starting from the beginning of the project. This co-creation should take the form of both co-design (what do we want, how, where)  and co-building (let’s build it together!). Lastly, it is important to remember that all involved partners (elected representatives, public technicians, NGOs) work on different temporalities which can affect the initial timeframe.

A step-by-step guide for other cities to implement the same solution

1. Identify the sites to host solutions
2. Identify local partners (public authorities, NGOs, …)
3. Invite residents to co-design the solutions they would need (relying on a nearby structure with an interest in participating).
4. Invite residents to co-build the solutions
5. Communicate about them via social media, in the street and via local NGOs
6. Reflect upon the experience! (test and improve the solutions)

7. What’s happening in the Autumn and Winter?

Following on the first experiences, Time2Adapt will reflect upon them, taking away the main learnings to draft the workplan for the upcoming year and especially the upcoming summer. In parallel, the key parts of the project will be continued or launched:

• Identifying the impact of the change of opening hours of given sites (schools, swimming pools, installing the urban furniture …) on working conditions
• Further refinement of the diagnosis via urban walks and selection of pilot sites
• Continued collaboration and networking with local stakeholders (centres for social action, social centres, NGOs…) – for improved conditions for schoolyards openings
• Identification of the sites to install artistic artefacts and urban furniture – creation of these
• Designing citizens’ led evaluation process
• Evaluating the process of working with residents

Stay tuned for the progress of the project via Portico!