Global URBAN HEAT Media Lab, est. 2026

The ‘Global URBAN HEAT Media Lab’ is an initiative by Pedestrian Space supporting international and interdisciplinary knowledge exchange, individual and collaborative research, awareness-shaping, and media creation regarding urban heat mitigation and adaptation.

We welcome diverse forms of collaboration for this project, including with students, municipalities, educators, researchers, fellow organizations, and more. We welcome collaborators from around the world, recognizing urban heat as an issue of escalating urgency that affects environmental and ecological health, public health, species migration (including humans), daily quality of life, and increasingly tests the viability of our ‘habitats’.

View content from the

‘Global URBAN HEAT MEDIA Lab’

here

Video on the first few weeks of development of the Global URBAN HEAT Media Lab (August 2026)

NETWORK + International Internship Network

We announced this pilot project on LinkedIn on July 22, 2026, here, and were impressed by the flood of responses, which also illustrates how critical and widespread the issue is. Many university students, scholars, and professionals have written to collaborate and participate, conveying the great interest and commitment that people specializing in urban issues have for this critical issue. 

1-month-old network
The network in development as of August 30, 2026.
Turquoise circled stars represent academic interns/placements, and yellow circled stars represent professionals/collaborators

Due to such a tremendous response, as well as the reality that we are an NGO and platform focused on the intersection of media, research, communication, and public engagement, for this pilot, we began developing a network approach and a ‘Global URBAN HEAT Media Lab’.

Urban Heat Network
Learn more about the network here

The network also includes an ‘International Internship Network’, with undergraduate and graduate students from across the world participating as they fulfill their academic internships and placements via engagement, activities, and projects affiliated with the ‘Global URBAN HEAT Media Lab’.

Read about the ‘Global URBAN HEAT Media Lab’ academic interns here

We have been in the process, between July and September 2026, of accepting many students globally from diverse disciplines for Urban Heat-related internships and to research a range of issues of urban resilience via different disciplinary lenses.

The first cohort of the International Internship Network includes undergraduate and graduate students from cities and countries all over the world, and the network experience is designed to allow for independent inquiries and projects as well as collaboration at local, regional, and international levels with other Urban Heat Media Lab academic interns.

Read more about our academic placements here.

Visit the ‘Global URBAN HEAT Media Lab’ Substack here

The Lab will include, but not be limited to:

  • Documenting municipal barriers, insights, and strategies for mitigating and reducing urban heat
  • Community-engaged research and projects that document the lived experiences and observations of residents adapting to urban heat
  • Media outreach and public engagement in shaping awareness on issues of urban heat
  • Co-creation of activities and exercises for educators to engage students in co-learning on issues of urban heat
  • Academic internships on diverse issues of urban heat
  • Case studies of cities and regions

Additionally, the academic experience of this project is not limited to academic placement but also includes an interdisciplinary workshop that we offer to facilitate via guest lectureships at universities. Read more at the link below.

‘Global Urban Heat Media Lab’ Workshop
Learn more about the workshop for universities

URBAN HEAT TALKS

Visit the ‘Urban Heat Beat’ here for video recordings from conversations we have been having with individuals who are joining the Pedestrian Space URBAN HEAT pilot program 2026/27, as well as various video content by collaborators developed during the project.

If you are interested in collaborating, please email us at info@pedestrianspace.org

-Annika, Founder at Pedestrian Space

Visit here for ongoing content at the ‘Global URBAN HEAT Media Lab’.

Visit the main project page here.

MEDIA LINKS