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La cuenca del río Conchos:
una mirada desde las ciencias ante el cambio climático
In January 2017, all of the work groups met in El Paso, to foster
ongoing communication between the groups and to plan for the
2017 heat season. The participants developed ideas for new research
initiatives, and identified community engagement opportunities,
information needs, and approaches for increasing awareness and
building capacity to improve preparedness for regional extreme
heat episodes. They brainstormed specific actions to take in
anticipation of the 2017 heat season, such as communication and
outreach (e.g., radio advertisements, and printed materials). The
ideas that garnered the largest support were: (1) develop a heat-
health binational task force, composed of organizations in each of
the three pilot cities, and with a common mission to identify and
address capacity building and public education needs through
common activities and messaging, in both English and Spanish;
(2) convene a media announcement event, in conjunction with
the El Paso Extreme Weather Task Force (EWTF), with messages
communicated via social media; (3) hold an urban sustainability-
focused event in each city, where materials (e.g., water bottles or
brochures containing heat-health information) can be distributed;
and (4) request that the mayors of each city proclaim May as
“Heat Awareness Month,” and coordinate with the EWTF media
event to announce the proclamations. Plans are underway for the
2017 Heat Awareness Month.
Ciudad Juárez.
At this January meeting, the Oficina de Resiliencia
en Ciudad Juárez joined the Communication, Engagement, and
Training work group, and has been a key asset and addition to
the project. They hosted a meeting in Ciudad Juárez, with key
officials from local government and universities, to introduce the
NIHHIS RGB pilot and discuss the ongoing efforts in the region.
Participants enthusiastically endorsed the pilot project, and
emphasized the importance of building resilience to extreme heat
in Ciudad Juárez. Participants noted that the City could improve
its abilities to deal with extreme heat, especially with respect to
