ASU, Phoenix team up in competition to fight climate change

PHOENIX – Researchers from Arizona State University and the city of Phoenix have teamed up in a national competition to fight climate change.

Phoenix is competing in the Bloomberg Philanthropies 2018 Mayors Challenge, a contest between city leaders to find solutions to issues their respective cities face.

According to The State Press, city officials teamed up with researchers at Arizona State to develop a program called “HeatReady,” which would enable local governments to analyze and prepare for intense heat.

According to Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, the program is directly aimed to address climate change, which has become a threat to some of Phoenix’s lower income individuals, among others.

“Make no mistake, climate change is real, and we’ve got to do things to fight climate change,” Stanton told the Press. “Nine of the top 10 hottest years (in Phoenix) on record have all occurred … in the last 15 years.”

Phoenix was chosen among 34 other cities to compete in the innovation competition, and was awarded $100,000 from Bloomberg Philanthropies to continue developing its program.

In October, one city will be awarded $5 million and four others $1 million as part of the competition.

“Now that we’ve got the first $100,000, next up is to come up with a concrete proposal and how it will be implemented,” Stanton said. “Even if we don’t win the ultimate prize, we’re still going to try to build it into the city budget and the county budget, as well as keep our partnership with ASU.”

David Hondula, an assistant professor at the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, was among the ASU researchers and Phoenix officials who took part in a workshop on March 19 and 20 with other cities in the competition in New York.

Along with Phoenix’s “HeatReady” program, the opioid epidemic, gun violence and natural disasters are among some of the other issues brought to attention in the competition.

Hondula told the Press that regardless of the outcome, he believes ASU will continue to work with the city on heat resilience.

“We imagine students and faculty members from schools all across the university in helping the city tackle some of its heat challenges,” he said.

“Institutions of higher education are supposed to serve as a society at large, and I think collaborative efforts like this are a really great example of how to do that.”

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