At its very core, The Heat Index - Kolkata (THInK) is a youth-led project. It hopes to better understand and address the everyday realities of heat exposure among women in underserved urban communities. To do the same, the project begins by trying to ground its work in lived experiences via a community survey exploring how women encounter heat stress in their daily routines. .
Building on these insights, the project then aims to translate learning for these women through accessible educational materials, conversations with experts working within gender and climate vulnerability, and a fundraising campaign that supports our partner organization, in their already present addressing of environmental and socio-economic risk. Through this combined approach, THInK hopes to contribute to broader efforts focused on reducing the health impacts of extreme heat while supporting actual community awareness and resilience in the face of climate change.