ILSF 2024 - Build your climate-proof LEGO city

Due to climate change, extreme weather, such as heat waves, is becoming increasingly common. During the summer this can lead to an increased temperature in cities compared to the countryside (urban heat island or urban heat island effect). This increase in temperature and heat stress can lead to health problems and excess mortality. The big challenge today is to adapt cities to combat unnecessary heat stress, for example by planning more green spaces (climate adaptation). In this project, visitors can interactively investigate the impact of a city's land use on its temperature (and heat stress) using Lego blocks. Visitors build a miniature city with LEGO where we provide a color code for the land use. A photo of this arrangement is then taken in the “temperature box” and, using a computer program, is changed into a map with information about the land use and structural properties of this city. Next we met machine learning methods for the hyperlocal temperature for this Lego city. Furthermore, we will provide links to other research domains relevant to this project, such as citizen science and crowd-sourced data, artificial intelligence and the effect of heat and environmental factors on human health (ecological health).