Gernika-Lumo encourages citizens to take part in designing places in which to shelter against extreme heat
03/10/2025
On Monday 30 September, the town council held its first briefing on shaping how its Climate Shelter Network will work.
Gernika-Lumo Town Council has launched a citizen participation process to design its future Climate Shelter Network. The aim of the initiative is to work with the public to identify cool, accessible places that offer shelter on days of extreme heat, which are becoming more frequent due to the effects of climate change. The proposal is a response to the goal of the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project of achieving resilience in the Basque Country and is part of action C.7.1.Citizen training on climate action, which is aimed at sharing responsibility with and educate citizens on climate change
The first meeting was held on Monday 30 September and provided details about the initiative and the first inventory of possible places drawn up by the council. It is hoped that the neighbourhood community will propose new places in upcoming meetings, so as to ensure that these shelters respond to the population’s real needs and help build a town that is better prepared and more resilient to climate change.
Climate shelters will be both indoors and outdoors. They may include parks, green areas, municipal buildings, churches, museums and other public facilities that provide thermal comfort, free access and equal use for everyone. The aim is to protect the most vulnerable groups in particular (such as the elderly, children or people with health problems) from the adverse effects of heat waves, including heat stroke, exhaustion, dizziness and dehydration.
More than 300 climate shelters in the Basque Country
The Basque Country now has more than 300 public areas which have been identified as climate shelters throughout the region. These have been included in a map drawn up by Ihobe, the Basque Government's public environmental management company.
The initiative is promoted by the Basque Government's Department of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability through Ihobe, and is in response to a growing need: the need to adapt urban environments to new climate challenges. The Basque Country has seen an increase in the frequency and intensity of heat waves in recent years, and this trend is expected to continue. A network of well-distributed climate shelters is key to addressing this situation.
These places must meet defined technical criteria to be considered as shelters: they must be open to the public, have natural or artificial elements to mitigate heat, such as vegetation or natural ventilation, and provide safe access. They are classified into two broad types: outdoor areas, such as densely wooded parks and urban green spaces, and indoor areas, such as civic centres, libraries and museums.
