Author: Ghada Karaki
CoolScapes is an experiment in co-producing solutions to questions of thermal comfort by leveraging the social and vernacular knowledge of migrant communities.
Context
Climate projections for the UK show higher temperatures and changing precipitation patterns that will lead to hotter and drier summers (SWM, 2021). Increased temperatures are expected to cause thermal discomfort and contribute to health problems, depending on the communities and their cultural heritage. Bristol is an increasingly diverse city, with 28.4% of its residents from ethnic minority groups and speaking 90 languages (Bristol City Council, 2023), and is increasingly attracting migrants from warmer parts of the world. Many new migrant communities have the knowledge and practices needed to adapt to a warming climate, drawing on local traditional vernacular knowledge and practices.
The current practice to retrofit in the UK is based on a step-by-step and incremental approach of increasing insulation, improving airtightness, and installing renewable energy technologies (Killip & Fawcett, 2022). While this approach effectively reduces winter heating demand, it can have unintended consequences, such as excessive heat in summer or inadequate ventilation (Godefroy & Baeli, 2024, Wingfield et al. 2011). In addition, there is little innovation in building retrofit design and a lack of understanding of buildings and their occupants as a socio-technical system.
We will address in this pilot study the challenges of thermal comfort, working with migrant communities from warmer climatic zones (e.g. the Middle East and East Africa). By understanding their thermal comfort perceptions, cooling behavioural adaptations, and vernacular practices, we aim to co-develop culturally informed responses to the climate crisis.
Our Approach
We used a Social Practice Framework (SPF) to map how migrant communities adapt to heat and cooling. Alongside creative storytelling, we integrated live scribing, a visual note-taking process that captured participants’ words, examples, and sketches in real-time. Storytelling and live scribing encouraged participants to share knowledge, experiences, and needs. Because comfort is felt emotionally as well as physically, live scribing made discussions visible: participants could point, edit, and build on what was drawn, turning comments into co-developed output.
What’s been done so far
Building on the view that practices are continually reperformed (Shove & Southerton, 2000), we used storytelling and live scribing as inquiry tools.
- We ran multiple workshops with first-generation migrants from warmer climatic zones, across different ages and genders.
- Sessions centred on perceptions of thermal comfort and documented cooling practices (architectural forms, materials, window and door configurations, courtyard use, natural ventilation, communal routines, clothing, use of shade/space, hydration).
- Live scribing captured narratives and examples in the moment; participants edited and extended the drawings to clarify meanings (e.g., how to make shared spaces work better and how to get cross-breezes flowing).
- The resulting visuals act as shared artefacts that we can transform into digital posts and a finding brief.
CoolScape Workshop I – 23rd June 2025, live scribing by Jasmine Thompson. Funded by CABER-UWE
Big thank you!
Thank you to all our wonderful participants, Stacey-Ann, Gofaone, Nijood, Nkoane, and Emmanuel-Ian, for your time and stories. We also appreciate the collaboration with ACH, especially Jah Caballero, for the great work in facilitating the workshops with the participants, and Watershed for their support. Many thanks to Jasemine Thompson for the great work live scribing the workshops.
We gratefully appreciate CABER-UWE for funding the pilot study.
What’s next
We are analysing scribed boards, notes and recordings. A summary and next steps will follow in the coming months.
Contact us: Ghada Karaki (email: ghada.karaki@uwe.ac.uk)
Glyn Evertt (email: glyn.evertt@uwe.ac.uk)
References
Bristol City Council. (2023). Bristol Key Facts 2023. https://www.bristol.gov.uk/files/documents/1840-bristol-key-facts-2023/file
Godefroy, J. and Baeli, M. (2024) Retrofit Revisit: 10 Case Studies. London: Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). ISBN 978-914543-92-0. https://www.cibse.org/knowledge-research/knowledge-portal/retrofit-revisit-2024
Killip, G., Fawcett, T. (2022). Expert views of building retrofit in the UK: Residential, non-residential, and heritage building renovations. In ECEEE Summer Study Proceedings – Efficiency and beyond: innovative energy demand policies. European Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
Shove, E., Southerton, D. (2000). Defrosting the Freezer: From Novelty to Convenience: A Narrative of Normalisation. Journal of Material Culture. 5(3): 301-319. https://doi.org/10.1177/135918350000500303
Sustainability West Midlands (2021). Third UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (CCRA3) Technical Report: Summary for England. Climate Change Committee. https://www.ukclimaterisk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CCRA-Evidence-Report-England-Summary-Final.pdf
Wingfield, J., Bell, M., Miles-Shenton, D., South, T., and Lowe, R.J. (2011). Evaluating the impact of an enhanced energy performance standard on load-bearing masonry domestic construction: Understanding the gap between designed and real performance: lessons from Stamford Brook. Project Report. London: Department for Communities and Local Government. ISBN 978-1-4098-2891-4.