Unseen heat, a story about the potential heat extremes in the Netherlands

Recent years have seen record-shattering extreme heat all over the world. Outliers have even surprised climate scientists. In the Netherlands too, it could get extremely hot in the near future. What could the impacts be if intense temperatures hit the Netherlands? For such a scenario, we developed the climate story ‘Unseen heat’ (unseenheat.com). With this story, about a young family in the Dutch city of Eindhoven, we want to depict what could happen if we face an unprecedented heat crisis.

The target audience of the story are professionals. With storytelling, matching pictures and sound, we want to make professionals aware of the possible risks of extreme heat. The aim is to start the conversation about how to prepare for a heat crisis.

In this presentation we would like to share our experiences regarding the developement of the storyline. The story is based on the latest scientific insights on exceptional weather events and impacts in the Netherlands, and numerous interviews. We will also explain how the story is currently being used by professionals, and we will present our lessons learned  on how the climate story can help to prepare for a heat crisis.