Parallel to the SDGs-EYES Pilot 2 – Extreme temperatures risk, aimed at evaluating the impact of heat waves on health at the micro-area level in the city of Turin (Italy), a project of the National Plan for Complementary Investments (PNC) of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), entitled “Health and Equity Co-benefits Supporting Climate Change Response Plans in Italy” is currently underway. Both the ASL TO3 Epidemiology Unit (Pilot 2 leader) and the CMCC Pilot 2 team are partners of the PNC project and will ensure synergies between the two projects.
The PNC project takes a multidisciplinary approach, involving various structures from both the National Environmental Protection System and the National Health Prevention System for Environmental and Climate Risks across five Italian regions, including Piedmont, the region where the city of Turin is located. It also engages national experts in health, weather, air quality, communication, and active citizenship associations. The goal is to accelerate climate change adaptation in urban areas, with a focus on green spaces and sustainable mobility, while also increasing knowledge, raising awareness, and encouraging changes in lifestyles and policies. These efforts aim to generate significant direct and indirect co-benefits for everyone, particularly in terms of health equity.
The ASL TO3 Epidemiology Unit contributes to this project with another case study in Turin, aimed at mapping the nature-based solutions and green space renewal interventions realized in the last years in the city, and assessing their impact on citizens’ health and health equity.
To achieve this latter objective, the tool developed within the SDGs-EYES Pilot 2 will play a key role. This tool is in fact designed to identify the most vulnerable areas and socioeconomic groups exposed to climate hazards at the suburban level, as well as the main factors predicting health impacts from heatwaves.
For impact assessment purposes, the synergy between the projects will help to assess whether the areas and population subgroups affected by urban interventions (identified within the PNC project) are the same identified as most vulnerable and at highest risk by the SDGs-EYES tool, thus suggesting possible corrective actions for local urban planners.
Furthermore, this synergy favors the diffusion and possibly the use of the Turin model at a national level, with a likely positive effect on the sustainability of the tool over time, beyond the SDGs-EYES timeframe.
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