This is a CATCH story<\/p>
This story is part of Dialogue Earth\u2019s work on the Community Adaptations to City Heat (CATCH) project, in partnership with Boston University. The project is funded by Wellcome. All Dialogue Earth content is editorially independent.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
The heat brings major health risks: dehydration, heatstroke, organ problems, even death. Children are especially susceptible as their smaller bodies find it harder than adults to regulate heat. In schools their lack of agency may make them even more vulnerable as they are not able to move to cooler areas or hydrate when they choose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Francisco Chesini, a public health researcher at the National University of Avellaneda (Undav) in Buenos Aires, says the fact more intense and frequent heatwaves are being caused by climate change should drive the discussion in Argentina on what needs to be done in schools during such events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Pedestrians](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Pedestrians-dealing-with-heat-in-Buenos-Aires_Alamy_2RRDYH8.jpg\")
<\/div>High temperatures can cause dehydration, heat cramps, swelling, and dizziness or fainting in children. \u201cIf any of these symptoms are not treated, they can trigger what is known as heatstroke, which is a condition that requires immediate hospitalisation because the body\u2019s temperature exceeds normal levels and needs to be controlled,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chesini believes that suspending classes is not an option, as it violates students\u2019 right to education. Better solutions to this problem are varied, he says, and can include short-term fixes such as air conditioning, and medium- and long-term fixes such as setting up protocols to deal with heatwaves and overhauling the designs of school buildings themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The short-term fix<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When temperatures are very high, cooling spaces depends on fans or air conditioners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of criticism against using window air conditioning [units] from a sustainability perspective,\u201d says Patricia Fabian, a researcher at Boston University who studies air conditioning in schools in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Window units can be installed cheaply but can be less efficient to run than central systems that are designed to cool entire buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not energy efficient, people crank them up, they don\u2019t get taken out of the windows in the winter, and then that creates a bigger energy demand for heating. But the alternative to that is closing schools and kids not being able to attend school, which has enormous implications on learning, on parents working, and childcare, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In many countries, schools are seeking other solutions due to the purchase and operating costs of AC, combined with an electrical grid that cannot handle demand from these devices and suddenly shuts down. There are ways to reduce dependence on AC: changing the buildings, and changing the cities they exist in. But these are not short-term solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Building better buildings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When thinking about cool architecture, the key is to take advantage of \u201cdelay time\u201d, says architect Adolfo Schlieper, who teaches at the Faculty of Architecture of the National University of Rosario (UNR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sunlight does not instantly warm classrooms when it hits schools. Heat takes time to move through walls and windows, and the time it takes depends on the materials and their thickness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Walls, windows and roofs have \u201cheat reduction coefficients\u201d, which can be modified with adequate thermal insulation, such as glass wool or plastered roofs. Existing walls can be made thicker or high ceilings can be lowered using false ceilings to create an air chamber, says Schlieper, helping maintain desired temperatures. New schools can be built in ways that help mitigate the effects of urban heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The architect also cites more innovative and easier-to-install materials and solutions, such as corrugated sheet panels with injected polyurethane. But these are more expensive than conventional materials and clients are often reluctant to use them as they prefer to prioritise financial savings \u201cwithout taking the global climate crisis into account\u201d, he notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are 437 primary schools and 312 secondary schools in Rosario, according to data<\/a> from the municipality\u2019s Department of Culture and Education. Applying a standard solution is not advisable, and each case must be reviewed individually, experts say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dialogue Earth attempted to contact the Ministry of Education of Santa Fe, the province where Rosario is located, to inquire about initiatives to solve heat problems such as those that occurred in March, but did not receive a response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Schools are not isolated from their neighbourhoods. Cooling their surroundings will cool them too, and keep those inside healthier when things heat up. This approach typically relies on “green” and “blue” infrastructure \u2013 vegetation such as trees and water bodies such as lakes \u2013 to mitigate heat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2007, the Rosario City Council approved a plan<\/a> to create a \u201cGreen Terraces\u201d programme promoting the use of vegetation on city buildings to improve urban air quality. But the programme does not mandate action and has not been widely adopted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rosario\u2019s undersecretary for climate change, Mar\u00eda del Pilar Bueno, says a pilot project is also in development with residents in the Moreno neighbourhood, a vulnerable area of the city, to incorporate green infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just about planting trees, but removing concrete and actually creating absorbent surfaces and reducing heat,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a participatory design that is being developed from scratch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are currently 22 projects in Argentina that have incorporated nature-based solutions<\/a>, according to research<\/a> by Natasha Picone and her colleague Valeria Duval. This does not include the recently started Moreno project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Picone, a geographer and lecturer at the National University of the Center of Buenos Aires Province, stresses that local knowledge is vital and such solutions rarely just change one aspect of a neighbourhood. They can bring biodiversity, and water and food security, benefits as well as cooling, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is very important to look at all the possible effects,\u201d Picone says. For example, she says it is important to address what type of vegetation to use to reduce temperature, how it will be used from a social perspective, and how this green infrastructure will be maintained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a specialist in urban climatology and sustainable development, Picone proposes going further and planning cities with more tree-lined streets and blue infrastructure, such as lakes and ponds. Such major redesigns require a comprehensive approach that also includes school communities. \u201cThey can be a focal point for raising awareness among people about these increasingly frequent phenomena,\u201d says Picone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rosario currently has a Climate Action Schools Network programme, in which more than 2,000 teachers participate in activities linked to the Local Climate Action Plan<\/a> (PLAC). This tool developed by the municipality aims to adapt the city to climate change with a plethora of initiatives such as promoting bicycle use, installing micro-hydropower and using school food waste to generate biogas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Planning for continued rising temperatures is taking place across many locations, many of which have not historically struggled with heat, such as Boston, where Fabian works. But across the Americas, as with Rosario, even traditionally hot areas need to think harder about how climate change is altering temperatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNorthern Mexico gets very hot, and most of the schools don\u2019t have air conditioning, because the prevailing thought is that in the summer the kids aren\u2019t in school,\u201d says Fabian. \u201cBut now that it\u2019s getting hotter, earlier, and more intensely, its actually an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keeping heat in mind when building and planning in cities means that when cooling is needed, it can be cheaper and more climate friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you weatherise a building, you\u2019re adding insulation, you\u2019re air sealing, and it\u2019s easier to cool. It\u2019s more affordable to cool,\u201d says Fabian. \u201cAt a neighbourhood level, if you plant trees \u2013 and in the city in particular, where you reduce the urban heat island \u2013 you then also don\u2019t need quite as much air conditioning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n These solutions to heat can also bring benefits for linked issues of air quality. Climate change can worsen air quality in multiple ways, including via weather systems that trap pollutants as well as raise heat, and increased wildfires which generate dangerous smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boston Public Schools has now installed sensors<\/a> that measure heat and air quality in all 121 of the schools it oversees. These sensors are used to inform decisions about school closures, make temperature adjustments to classrooms, and fix problems with cooling systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\nRethinking urban planning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"aerial](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Rosario-Argentina-infrastructure_Milou_Flickr_4026734097-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>Looking to the summer with dread<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"children](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Escuela-Primaria-Tierra-y-Liberdad-Mexico_Alamy_2AX0X31.jpg\")
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