Heilbronn (dpa/lsw) - Mannheim is planning sensor measuring points throughout the city to get even more knowledge about where you can do something about the heat. That said the municipal climate manager Georg Pins, the "Heilbronner Voice" on Tuesday. Mannheim was one of the first cities in Germany to develop an action plan against heat in 2021. A core element of the plan is the warning of particularly vulnerable groups of heat risks and education about correct behavior. "While you're probably quite good at reaching kids and teens through social media, that's probably not going to work for the elderly, the homeless, or the mentally ill." Due to its location in the Upper Rhine Valley, Mannheim is one of the cities with the most hot days in Germany.
The urban heat action plan is linked to the city's climate protection concept - the unsealing of concrete surfaces, such as parking lots and schoolyards. The greening of roofs and sometimes facades, which creates a better microclimate, has already begun, said Pins. "We encourage it when private individuals do something like that, but we also do a lot ourselves, for example by unsealing schoolyards. You have to realize that temperature differences of 30 degrees can sometimes be measured between a wild meadow and a sealed area."
In an emergency, communication is very important, said Pins. "To do this, you have to determine in advance who will talk to whom and when, and which channels will be used. We have to institutionalize communication so that we don't have to deal with questions of responsibility in the event of a crisis."
