How to Participate in Heat Action Day 2025
Ready to take action?
Whether you’re planning something simple or ambitious, this page offers step-by-step guidance to help you participate in Heat Action Day 2025. From building your team to choosing your activities, you’ll find practical tips and resources to make your Heat Action Day count.
Step-by-Step: Plan Your HAD
There’s no one-size-fits-all way to take part in Heat Action Day. Below, you’ll find step-by-step guidance to help you plan and carry out your Heat Action Day activities — from assembling your team to choosing the right actions for your context. You can also use the site’s language drop-down menu (top left-hand corner) to view this page in other languages.
Prefer a downloadable version? Download the PDF Version: Guide for participating in Heat Action Day 2025. Also available in French Guide de participation à la Journée d'Action contre la Chaleur, and Spanish Guía para participar en el Día de Acción contra el Calor.
Step 1
Attend the HAD “information sessions” for inspiration and guidance on how to participate and share your thoughts.
Recording of the latest info session is available here.
Step 2
Download the First Aid app to learn how to recognize and respond to heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Scan the QR code to download First Aid App ↓
Step 3
Build your HAD team of staff/volunteers: gather your colleagues and volunteers to form a dynamic HAD team ready to take action. Make sure you have someone who is trained in First Aid in your team.
Step 4
Connect and Collaborate: Reach out to a wide variety of partners and Red Cross/Crescent National Societies and Branches to amplify your impact and plan your heat actions together. Contact the city administrations to collaborate in activities for HAD. We ask the cities to lit up landmarks/monuments/ bridges etc. orange for Heat Action Day.
Step 5
Budget your HAD: identify your own resources (e.g. volunteers, venues, materials etc.) for your HAD activities (no external fund is available for National Societies)
Step 6
Craft your compelling key messages to share before and during HAD: develop powerful heat messages using our guidance tailored to/translated into your local language(s), resonating with your community. Make sure the messages are in line with the recommendations in the FA app and the messages in this Key Messages document.
Step 7
Choose your Heat Actions:
- “Light” (no/low resources, little preparation needed)
- Get your main local monument, tower, bridge lit up orange for Heat Action Day
- Share key messages on extreme heat social media
- Showcase a previous heat event including its impacts, response, vulnerable groups on social media
- Promote the collaborative Project Book in advance of HAD, to be launched on June 2nd
- “Medium” (medium resources required, start preparing activities 3-4 weeks in advance, no to little budget required)
- Organize a workshop to evaluate a previous heat event to improve preparedness - internally or with partners
- Organize creative events to demonstrate how to recognize heat exhaustion and heat stroke
- Organize a public heat awareness campaign focused on heat exhaustion/heat stroke, e.g. visiting a school, door-to-door, setting up a cooling station with educational resources in main square
- Interview local experts (e.g. doctor, public health expert, etc.) on heat impacts on public health – for TV, radio, or social media
- “Advanced” (high resources required, start preparing activities 4-6 weeks in advance)
- Organize a community heat mapping exercise
- Organize a public event with music or dance, e.g. flash mob
Step 8
Register and share your HAD Plans with us and the world: let us know your strategies and ideas for HAD. Together, we can make a difference!
Step 9
Execute and Share: Take action on your plans and share your activities on social media using the hashtags: #BeattheHeat, #HeatActionDay2025, and #HAD2025.
Organizing Partners
