Albany, NY - August 16, 2016 - Health Canada’s Climate Change and Innovation Bureau and EPA’s Heat Island Reduction Program invite you to a webinar – part of a Cool Communities webinar series hosted by Health Canada – showcasing innovative community-level initiatives that help reduce the urban heat island effect.

Thursday, August 18, 2016 1:00-2:30 PM ET Register.

From Canada

• Health Canada's Approach to Supporting Cool Communities: Gregory Richardson of Health Canada will speak about Health Canada’s program activities to increase heat resiliency across Canadian communities and highlight practical community tools.
• Mitigating the Urban Heat Island in the City of Windsor's Parks and Downtown: Karina Richters of the City of Windsor, Ontario, will share practical examples of how the City of Windsor is addressing the risks of increasing temperatures in a changing climate. The presentation will focus on improving the thermal comfort in city parks and the next steps for reducing the heat island effect in Windsor’s downtown.

From the United States

• U.S. Federal, State, and Local Activities on Heat Island Mitigation: Victoria Ludwig of EPA will provide an overview of EPA's heat island reduction program and the policy measures currently employed by states and cities in the U.S. to reduce heat islands.
• Beating the Heat in Louisville with Data Driven Solutions: Maria Koetter of the Louisville (Kentucky) Metro Government will share the development of a comprehensive action plan for citywide mitigation of the heat island effect in Louisville, Kentucky.

EPA Updates Excessive Heat Events Guidebook
EPA’s Excessive Heat Events Guidebook is designed to help community officials, emergency managers, meteorologists, and others plan for and respond to excessive heat events. The guidebook highlights best practices employed by urban areas to save lives during excessive heat events, and provides a menu of options that officials can use to respond to these events in their communities. Earlier this year, to help users find the most up-to-date information about extreme heat, EPA and its federal partners updated Appendix A of the guidebook, “Excessive Heat Event Online Federal Resources.”

For more information, visit the Excessive Heat Events Guidebook.