‘Living in a warming world requires practical solutions that save lives, don’t harm our environment’

As Europe confronts increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves, the conversation around climate adaptation is shifting from environmental policy to public health, education, and social infrastructure. Haxie Meyers-Belkin is pleased to welcome Caradee Wright, Chief Specialist Scientist at the South African Medical Research Council leading the Climate and Health Research Programme. She argues that schools have become one of the clearest frontlines of climate change. Her analysis moves beyond the immediate debate over air conditioning to present a more systemic vision of heat resilience, combining architecture, behavioural adaptation, public awareness, and educational policy.Rather than framing extreme heat as a temporary disruption, Wright treats it as a defining condition of the coming decades that demands structural change. She highlights children’s unique physiological vulnerability, questions whether historic school buildings remain fit for a warming climate, and argues that protecting education requires redesigning both physical spaces and institutional routines.