Invention:
HeatHero Academy is an educational program aimed at youth with the goal of raising awareness and empowering students and their communities to combat urban heat. This program aims to foster climate resilience and inspire students to engage in environmental issues. It combines immersive augmented reality technology with hands-on citizen science projects, in which students can actively engage with and solve real-world urban heat problems.
Background:
Cities tend to be warmer than their surrounding suburban and rural areas, leaving their communities more at risk during heat waves. These risks can be mitigated by adding more vegetation and trees to a city, designing cool roofs and pavements, and making detailed heat response plans. However, another important response that is often overlooked is education: teaching communities about urban heat and empowering them to take action.
Applications:
- Environmental education
- Heat resilience education
- Community engagement on environmental issues
Advantages:
- Novel environmental educational program
- Immersive augmented reality components
- Promotes community engagement
- Advances environmental activism
