CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Morrall, Caleb |
|---|---|
| Title | Heatwaves: Developing A Diagnostic Framework For Evaluating Heat Resilience Strategies |
| Summary | Heatwaves are the leading cause of climate-related deaths globally, a threat expected to intensify with continued planetary warming. While governments at various levels are implementing strategies to build resilience to heat, the literature defining best-practice is still emerging. This paper addresses this critical gap by developing and applying a novel diagnostic framework to evaluate the comprehensiveness – and therefore the likely effectiveness – of heat resilience strategies. The framework's development draws on resilience literature and lessons from mature policy areas to identify core dimensions of resilience and key pathways of heat risk. These identified elements – absorptive, adaptive, and transformative capacities for resilience, and exposure, sensitivity, and management capacity pathways for risk – were synthesised into an evaluative matrix. Its utility was tested by applying the framework to existing heat strategies, mapping their components to measure comprehensiveness, identify strengths, and diagnose gaps. Applying the framework generates a 'heat map,' visualising a strategy's intervention focus across resilience dimensions and vulnerability pathways. This process highlights areas of strong strategic coverage and areas of potential neglect. Ultimately, this research provides a structured diagnostic tool for policymakers to refine and enhance strategy effectiveness, fostering the development and diffusion of robust best-practice approaches to heat resilience. |
| Supervisor | Cartwright, Andrew |
| Department | Public Policy MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/morrall_caleb.pdf |
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