ZTwo new projects within the InnovationsCommunity Urban Health (ICUH), focusing on heat-adapted urban development, have been successfully launched. They are the first selected ImplementationPioneers of the InnovationsCommunity Urban Health. The kick-off meeting took place on 26 June 2026 and was moderated by Dr. Stefanie Dreger (Department of Social Epidemiology, Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research, IPP) and Dirk Gansefort (LVG & AfS).
The collaborative project ICUH, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR), is dedicated to creating healthy and equitable living conditions in cities regardless of social inequalities, thereby following the guiding principle of environmental justice. A central objective of ICUH is to address the implementation gap—that is, the question of why scientific evidence and widely accepted guiding principles such as environmental justice, sustainability, and healthy urban development are often not translated into practice, and which barriers to implementation are responsible. ICUH focuses on two former industrial regions: the Ruhr area and Bremen/Bremerhaven.
In the Bremen/Bremerhaven region, two projects addressing barriers to the implementation of heat-adapted urban development are being funded.
The project Gender-Sensitive Heat Protection – Health Equity for Homeless Women
addresses the fact that extreme weather events, particularly heat, have a significant impact on the health of homeless women in Bremen, while their specific needs are often insufficiently considered in existing heat protection measures. The project therefore investigates the personal, social, and societal factors that increase their vulnerability, identifies their specific needs, and examines which interventions have proven effective. Among other outputs, the project will develop a practice-oriented guideline containing evidence-based recommendations for municipalities on preventing and managing heat-related health risks among homeless women.
The project is carried out by LieLa e.V. and the Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology – BIPS. The project "GRILLE – Healthy and Resilient Inner Courtyards for Quality of Life in Lehe" develops transferable strategies and measures for connecting and greening inner courtyards to promote health, using the Goethe Quarter in Bremerhaven as a case study. The neighbourhood is home to a comparatively large number of people with a low socioeconomic status who are particularly affected by heat due to their increased vulnerability and more limited capacity to respond.
The project focuses on an in-depth analysis of formal and informal implementation pathways, including structural, legal, organisational, and financial framework conditions, as well as stakeholder networks, social practices, and interests. Through a participatory process, the project will develop proposals for measures to create a healthier and more climate-resilient neighbourhood, with particular benefits for socially disadvantaged population groups.
GRILLE is carried out by the Arbeitsförderungs-Zentrum im Lande Bremen GmbH (Employment Promotion Centre Bremen) and the University of Bremen's Research Centre for Sustainability (artec).
Further information on the InnovationsCommunity Urban Health (ICUH) is available at:
https://www.uni-bremen.de/en/institute-of-public-health-and-nursing-research
Contact
Dr. Stefanie Dreger
Department of Social Epidemiology
Institute of Public Health and Nursing Research (IPP)
University of Bremen
E-mail: stefanie-dregerprotect me ?!uni-bremenprotect me ?!.de
Phone: +49 421 218 68822
