911³Ô¹Ï

911³Ô¹Ï COPE-Co-Create: COPE-Co-Create engages older adults, researchers, community organizations, and service providers in developing strategies to enhance older adults’ preparedness for extreme heat, drawing on lived experiences and expertise across health care, housing, and senior services.

Seniors’ Heat Resilience Community Forum: On September 10, 2026, the COPE Co-Create team, led by Dr. Theresa Pauly and Dr. Atiya Mahmood, hosted the Seniors’ Heat Resilience Community Forum at 911³Ô¹Ï’s Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue in downtown Vancouver. The morning Connect & Learn Event welcomed 101 attendees, and 46 attended the afternoon Co-Create Workshop.

Morning - Connecting and learning: Two rounds of interactive sessions brought participants together with researchers and community partners to explore aging, extreme heat, and community preparedness. Sessions addressed neighbourhood strategies, from increasing street trees to strengthening social connections and developing emergency plans with neighbours. Participants contributed strategies from their own lives and cultures, creating opportunities for shared learning. A COPE Drama performance explored older adults’ experiences, challenges, and strategies related to extreme heat. More broadly, COPE-Co-Create’s knowledge mobilization approach incorporates findings from COPE-Daily and COPE-Engage, lived experience narratives, a Photovoice display, and research engagement booths.

Afternoon - Co-creating priorities for action: World Café discussions explored heat-resilient homes, public spaces, community education, and support strategies. Small-group activities focused on barriers, opportunities, stakeholders, and potential actions. Ideas included creating more shade and cooling spaces, retrofitting buildings, addressing language barriers, and preventing social isolation. Participants emphasized that social connection, accessibility, education, and policy change are interconnected and need to be considered together.

Learning from community expertise: Research assistants supported the event as notetakers, volunteers, and facilitators while learning directly from attendees. Their reflections highlighted the wealth of knowledge already present within the community and the importance of involving community members in developing solutions. Hearing perspectives from different backgrounds and disciplines also helped trainees recognize shared concerns and consider new approaches to heat resilience.

Participant voices: Feedback surveys reflected overwhelmingly positive experiences. Attendees valued practical strategies and resources, opportunities to connect with others, and the interactive workshops and World Café discussions. The drama and lived-experience storytelling were described as particularly powerful and inspiring. Participants reported feeling more informed, connected, hopeful, and motivated to act, with some describing concrete plans to support climate resilience within their communities and organizations.

Next steps: COPE-Co-Create aims to develop a comprehensive action plan informed by research, lived experiences, and community expertise. The plan is intended to be shared with the international COPE team, with subsequent forums planned in the UK, Sweden, Israel, and Hong Kong to inform local adaptations.

We thank all attendees and partners for contributing their time, perspectives, and expertise!