Berlin Heat Risk Clinic

From fragmented signals to shared preparedness

This session is part of the Public Vitality Camp 2026 and is convened by Dark Matter Labs with nextlearning e.V.

Shaped by repeated cycles of collapse and rebuilding, Berlin carries a deep memory of responding to crises. Building on this history, Dark Matter Labs and nextlearning are exploring a whole-of-society approach to long-term heat resilience, spurred by record-breaking heat in western Europe in June 2026. Berlin already has substantial heat-response capabilities across public, civic and urban systems, yet cross-sector coordination remains limited.

How can Berlin connect existing capacities, lived experience and institutional action so that heat resilience becomes a shared, long-term capability rather than a collection of isolated responses?

This invite-only session brings together civil society, public institutions, private actors and municipal government to pool perspectives, map existing capacity and identify critical gaps. Together, participants explore what coordination and learning infrastructure is needed to strengthen long-term heat resilience across the city.

Welcome perspectives

The working language of this session is English, with openness to contributions in German. We particularly welcome perspectives on heat resilience, risk analysis and cross-sector coordination, including:

Berlin district and Senate administrations

civil protection and emergency preparedness

climate adaptation and urban resilience

critical infrastructure and essential services

civil society and mutual-aid networks

data, sensing and early-warning approaches

research on systemic risk, heat and preparedness

No prior knowledge of risk-sensing frameworks is required. Particularly valuable are experiences from situations where heat, infrastructure, public services and community capacity interact; especially where coordination gaps become visible across organisational boundaries.

Important notes

The Camp format is a volunteer-developed prototype and intentionally simple in how it is organised. Please bring your own food and drinks, and feel free to bring something to share.

Please register as well for the walk up and walk down from S Heerstraße to Teufelsberg of this day. So you can participate in the held structure of the camp, we can tune in together and cross pollinate across the sessions.

The Public Vitality Camp is a shared learning space for people already working on societal, institutional, technological and ecological challenges. Across the sessions, we work on concrete questions and tensions and explore what enables people, institutions and communities to remain capable of acting under increasingly difficult conditions – and how decisions made today expand or constrain future possibilities.

Here you can discover further sessions and register or apply to participate.