A Dutch-U.S. Dialogue on Governance Capacity for Extreme Heat - workshop
A 4TU.Resilience Engineering workshop at the University of Twente, Enschede, taking place on Wednesday 4 November 2026, from 10:00 to 16:00.
Extreme heat is one of the most significant climate-related risks to human health and well-being, and local governments are under growing pressure to assess vulnerability and act. While flood governance is mature in both the Netherlands and the U.S., heat governance remains fragmented across public health, emergency management, planning, and social services. A less fragmented heat landscape could mean better resource and planning coordination across systems and, more importantly, more targeted and effective heat-related policies.
This comparative heat governance workshop is jointly organised by the University of Twente, Auburn University, and Delft University of Technology. At this workshop, we convene policymakers, local government officials, public health professionals, emergency managers, climate adaptation practitioners, and researchers from the Netherlands and the U.S. to exchange insights to strengthen their respective local capacity against heat risks.
Aims and objectives
The workshop will enable participants to exchange experiences across different governance structures and consider how institutional arrangements and capacity-building strategies can contribute to more effective local climate adaptation. As well as facilitating exchange between participants from the Netherlands and the United States, the workshop will focus on developing practical insights that participants can take back to their own organisations.
The workshop will bring together Dutch and U.S. experts to explore how local governments can strengthen their capacity to manage heat risks. In particular, the workshop provides an opportunity to:
- Learn from peers: Exchange experiences with U.S. colleagues tackling the same hazard through different governance structures.
- Gain actionable insights: Identify the institutional arrangements and capacity-building strategies that matter most for effective local climate adaptation.
- Co-create: Work together to develop pathways and adapt tools for use in your own organization.
- Expand your network: Build new professional connections across the Netherlands and the United States.
This event has been sponsored by the 4TU network of technical universities in the Netherlands and Auburn University in the USA.
