Paper short abstract:

heatwave action protocols should be centered around the social and ecosystem capital of the cities in which they are deployed, because these can help us improve the capacity of the infrastructure and its residents to absorb or withstand heat stress.

Paper long abstract:

This paper draws from long term ethnography with older adults living in areas affected by Madrid's urban heat island effect. It analyzes the limits to extreme heat adaptation that result from existing urban and nature conservation developments and the potential that older adults' intergenerational knowledge and skills could have for the city's socio-ecological resilience. This will be illustrated through the examination of a collaborative design, elaborated with participants, to reframe the authorities recommendations during heatwave alerts. The current recommendations are impairing for older adults because they suggest older adults should stay at home, largely in isolation. What the participants propose is a new set of recommendations that value relationships, traditional non-energy dependent cooling practices, intergenerational knowledge transfer and the use of green cover and air currents to cope with heat.