BARCELONA
Barcelona is experiencing a severe housing affordability crisis. At the same time, it is confronted by rising temperatures and more frequent heatwaves of increasingly longer durations.
There is a clear correlation between high ambient temperatures and excess mortality and morbidity. In Barcelona, housing conditions exacerbate this situation. Many buildings often lack modern insulation, air conditioning, or passive cooling features, turning buildings into spaces where particularly older residents and otherwise disadvantaged individuals are at risk of overheating.
Working to do better
We will examine the interplay between the exposure to high ambient temperatures and Barcelona senior residents’ health, well-being, and activity behaviors with specific emphasis to housing and tenure characteristics.
Our approach
The HEAT-Gravitas-BCN Project
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Objective A
Assessment of indoor environmental characteristics, older adults’ activity behaviors, and their combined effects on health and wellbeing
We will assess environmental quality (indoor and outdoor) and its impacts on older adults’ activity behaviors, health, and well-being using:
(a) specialized sensors for temperature, humidity, and air pollution;
(b) activity trackers to capture physical activity, sleep, and sedentary time; and
(c) health and wellbeing questionnaires together with clinical assessments.
The results of this aim will share recommendations regarding thresholds beyond which health behaviours and symptoms demand actions to prevent health risks
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Objective B
Exploring the impact of existing climate adaptation interventions on seniors’ health
Through a mixed-methods approach, we will identify - together with a mix of stakeholders - existing climate adaptation and mitigation plans, strategies, and interventions in Barcelona that have the potential to alleviate the triple crisis of:
(a) global warming
(b) scarcity of climate-change adapted housing; and
(c) population aging and increased heat-vulnerability due to increased age.
Building on this, we will investigate the interplay between indoor and outdoor exposure to high temperatures - considering sociodemographic characteristics, living conditions, and individual perceptions, and the effects of adaptation and mitigation strategies- including unexpected impacts of specific interventions.
The overarching aim is to better understand strengths, weaknesses, limitations, and opportunities of existing plans, strategies and interventions to provide tailored recommendations that translate into immediate actions at the local level
Key data Barcelona
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During the period between May and September of 2024 the threshold of intense heat (34.1ºC) was exceeded during 3 days, and the very intense heat threshold (36.1ºC) was exceeded during 2 days for these months.
Servei Meteorològic de Catalunya
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Over 40% of people aged 85+ live alone, many in rental housing with limited cooling options.
Ajuntament de Barcelona. Projecte d’acció comunitària Radars
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Up to 5% of premature summer deaths in Spanish cities are attributable to high temperatures and the urban heat island effect, especially among older adults.
Iungman et al., 2023
Meet the Team
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Associated researcher ISGlobal, Assistant professor University of Basel
Affiliations: Environment and Health over the Lifecourse (EVOLVE) & Climate, Air Pollution, Nature and Urban Health (CANU) programs at Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal); Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel
Prof. Koch studied sport sciences at Humboldt University and the University of Potsdam, and later specialized in human, environmental and exercise physiology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada. Her current research focuses on the combined health effects of physical activity and environmental exposures across the lifecourse. She is particularly interested in understanding how air pollution, ambient heat, green- and bluespaces affect the health benefits derived from physical activity. Related to this first research line, she also aims to better understand which mitigation and adaptation measures can be leveraged to tackle climate change and the global physical inactivity pandemic in an equitable manner, for example through targeted urban planning strategies, health promoting activities, and other local- and community level initiatives. sHer interdisciplinary research combines quantitative, qualitative, and participatory research methods to explore how environmental factors and climate change affect human health and physiological performance across various demographics. Her work positions her at the intersection of environmental health, exercise science, and sustainability.
Lead Co-PI
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Postdoctoral Researcher
Affiliations: Environment and Health over the Lifecourse (EVOLVE) & Climate, Air Pollution, Nature and Urban Health (CANU) programs at Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal); Unit of Occupational Medicine at Karolinska Institutet
Lluís Mangot-Sala (PhD) is a social epidemiologist specialized in the study of health inequalities and socioeconomic determinants of health. His research lies at the intersection of public health and social sciences, focusing on how employment and housing conditions influence mental health and health behaviours.
He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at ISGlobal, working on the HEAT-Gravitas-BCN project, where he examines how housing conditions, tenancy status, and climate adaptation and mitigation policies intersect to impact the health of older residents.
Lluís is also an affiliated researcher at the Unit of Occupational Medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, where he was a postdoctoral researcher studying the impact of precarious employment conditions on mental health using data from Swedish registers.
Postdoctoral Researcher
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Project Manager
Affiliations: Environment and Health over the Lifecourse (EVOLVE) program at Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal); Blanquerna Health Sciences-Ramon Llull University
Dr. Elena Gimeno-Santos has a diploma in Physiotherapy, degree in Psychology, Master's Degree in Respiratory Medicine and a PhD in Biomedicine (December 2014). For more than 20 years, she has been involved both at the clinical level and in research projects related to the evaluation of exercise capacity, pulmonary rehabilitation and promotion of physical activity in patients with both acute and chronic respiratory diseases. She did her doctoral thesis in the frame of an European project PROactive (IMI C2008-T13) on determinants and effects of physical activity in patients with COPD and validation of instruments to measure physical activity in COPD. During this doctoral thesis, she was responsible for the coordination of the systematic reviews, for the quality control of the fieldwork, for the statistical analyses and writing of the manuscripts. She has also participated in several research projects, all related to physical activity and chronic respiratory diseases management or prognosis, which has resulted in several manuscripts that she has co-authored. Also, she has participated in several national and international scientific conferences (European Respiratory Society (ERS), the International Society of Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE), and Spanish Respiratory Society (SEPAR) congress).
Objective A Manager
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Research Technician
Affiliations: Environment and Health over the Lifecourse (EVOLVE) program at Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
Mariona Font is a physiotherapist with a strong academic and research background, holding a Bachelor's degree in Physiotherapy and a Master's degree in Therapeutic Physical Activity. Since 2018, she has been involved in research, and since 2021 she has been working full-time as a research technician.
Her current role involves data collection and fieldwork in studies that assess mobility and the influence of environmental factors in older adults with chronic conditions, especially chronic respiratory diseases. These projects aim to better understand how physical and social environments affect functional capacity, daily activity, and quality of life.
Her main areas of interest include physical activity in chronic disease management, healthy ageing, and functional assessment in older populations. She has experience working in multidisciplinary research teams, contributing to projects that combine objective tools (such as wearables and physical performance tests) with self-reported measures (questionnaires and interviews).
She enjoys working in applied research and collaborating with diverse teams to explore how movement and environment interact in people’s daily lives.
Objective A Research Technician
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Associated researcher (Assistant Professor level) ISGlobal, UOC, BCNUEJ-ICTA-UAB
Affiliations: Climate, Air Pollution, Nature and Urban Health (CANU) & Environment and Health over the Lifecourse (EVOLVE) programs at Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal); Barcelona InTerdisciplinary research group on plAnetary heaLth (BITAL) at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC); Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability (BCNUEJ) at Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA), Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB)
Dr. Margarita Triguero-Mas is an environmental health scientist working at the intersection of public health, urban planning, and environmental justice, with a focus on health equity and urban nature. She is a senior researcher at the Open University of Catalonia and an Associated researcher at ISGlobal (Assistant Professor level) and the Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability (Senior researcher). She is currently (co-)leading two research lines at the Open University of Catalonia: "Natural spaces, biodiversity and human health" and "Climate change and human health" (more information here: https://bital.uoc.edu/en/lines-of-research/). Her research expertise spans from self-perceived mental and general health, exposure assessment (e.g., air pollution, gentrification, green space), and both quantitative (e.g., surveys, experimental studies, GIS, sensors) and qualitative and participatory research methodologies. In 2021, she was awarded a prestigious Ramon y Cajal fellowship and now co-leads a Horizon Europe project on scaling nature-based mental health therapies (see https://greenme-project.eu/) at the same time than participating in the HEAT project.
Lead Co-PI
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Postdoctoral Researcher, incorporating a gender perspective to Objective A
Affiliations: Department of Sport, Exercise and Health, University of Basel; Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
Dr. Laura Delgado Ortiz is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Sport, Exercise and Health at the University of Basel (Switzerland) and a Visiting Researcher at ISGlobal (Spain). Her research focuses on physical activity and healthy aging, with particular attention to the challenges posed by climate change.
Her work has a strong translational component, aiming to bridge the gap between science and society by generating impact beyond academic publications—through public engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the co-creation of actionable knowledge.
Laura completed her PhD as part of the Mobilise-D project (Funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative, 2019–2024), where she characterized walking in older adults, with a particular focus on people living with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Furthermore, Laura holds a degree in Government and International Relations from the Universidad Externado de Colombia (Colombia), as well as master’s degrees in Global Health and Clinical Research–International Health from the Universitat de Barcelona (Spain). Alongside her academic background, Laura has experience in the private pharmaceutical sector, where she was involved in dissemination activities, patient engagement, and access-related projects.
Her current research interests include intersectionality, and how gender and other social determinants influence physical activity and health outcomes in older populations.
Postdoctoral Researcher
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Senior Research Technician
Affiliations: Climate, Air Pollution, Nature and Urban Health (CANU) program at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
Glòria Carrasco-Turigas is a senior research technician at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). She is an environmental scientist focused in epidemiology and public health. She is currently working on the Climate, Air pollution, Nature and Urban Health, and on the Urban Planning, Environment and Health Initiative at ISGlobal. She has participated in studies analysing the impacts of air pollution, natural environments (green and blue), physical activity, modes of transport (including active transport), and different lifestyles and environments where we live in relation to physical and cognitive health.
Objective B Fieldwork Coordinator
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Predoctoral Researcher
Affiliations: Environment and Health over the Lifecourse (EVOLVE) & Climate, Air Pollution, Nature and Urban Health (CANU) programs at Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal)
Artur Coy Pérez holds a double degree in Political Science and Public Management and in Sociology, as well as a master’s degree in Public Health. He is currently a predoctoral researcher at ISGlobal, working on the HEAT-Gravitas-BCN project, where he examines how housing conditions, tenancy status, and climate adaptation and mitigation policies intersect to impact the health of older tenants. During his studies, he interned as a technician at Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB), where he contributed to the evaluation of the Barcelona Action Plan on Drugs and Addictions and took part in the co-creation process for the upcoming plan. He also completed his master’s thesis at ASPB, which consisted of a scoping review on interventions that mitigate the effects of housing insecurity on the health of children and adolescents.
Professionally, he gained experience as a researcher at the Sant Pau Research Institute, working on a FIS-funded project on housing insecurity and children’s health,
supported by the Carlos III Health Institute. As part of the project, he helped design and implement a school-based intervention in collaboration with community actors focused on children, and carried out qualitative research guided by Participatory Action Research principles.
Predoctoral Researcher