Heat stress is a growing concern in India, so to address this issue and to protect the exposed groups, a 5 year transdisciplinary research is being undertaken. The research project is a collaboration between Institute of Economic Growth (IEG), New Delhi, DEFT, Bhubaneswar funded by Wellcome Trust, UK.

Development and Environment Futures Trust (DEFT) is a knowledge partner of Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi in this project entitled “Economic and Health Impact Assessment of Heat Adaptation Action: Case Studies from India”.

Since the beginning of the research project, Development and Environment Futures Trust (DEFT) has been playing an important role in serving several purposes of the project. The details regarding the slums located in the city along with its household and population data has been communicated to the IEG personnel. Meetings with the community organisers were done enquiring about the existence of the identified slums and various other aspects before preparing the consolidated slums list.

Development and Environment Futures Trust (DEFT) organised a qualitative research method workshop in the month of June,2024 for the capacity building of the researchers involved in this project. The workshop was attended by several researchers and PhD scholars in order to equip them with necessary technical skills, capacity building and apply qualitative research methods in their respective research domains.  

The organisation conducted a heat health forum scoping consultation meeting in June, 2024 inviting officials and stakeholders from various fields for their inputs for forming a heat health forum in the near future which can make possible adaptive governance by bringing together government organisations, civil societies and corporate sectors to further strengthen and support heat action plans.

As the study mainly revolves around the heat and humidity experienced during the summers in Bhubaneswar, data regarding the temperature in the city, the coping strategies adopted/ steps taken at the government and non-governmental level were informed to the IEG personnel. As a knowledge partner DEFT has documented various news articles and editorials on heat published for Bhubaneswar and handed them to the IEG.

Development and Environment Futures Trust (DEFT) arranged a pre-project meeting with the BMC Officials, the zonal commissioners and other concerned staff of the BMC for their coordination before the commencement of baseline survey of the project “Economic and Health Impact Assessment of Heat Adaptation Action: Case Studies from India”. In the Corporation Meeting of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) also the IEG staff apprised the present corporators of BMC about the ensuing project.

Supplementary to the aforementioned developments, DEFT had conducted quantitative study to broaden the scope of research findings. Under quantitative study, a well-designed survey was conducted across 3000 households covering three zones in Bhubaneswar municipality from November 12, 2024 to February 28, 2025. The participants in the survey involved low income groups which included children, elderly, and outdoor workers of the slums. In the overall scenario of the survey, DEFT as the knowledge partner facilitated information and coordinates regarding the field activities, investigators, ward facilitators, and city coordinator. Further, a qualitative study is also being conducted under which a focused personal interview is underway.

Additionally, regular online meetings among IEG officials and field staffs in Bhubaneswar were done to work towards the overall success of qualitative and quantitative study.