Planning for Extreme Heat Cohort Program

The NC Planning for Extreme Heat Cohort is a virtual learning community that guides participants through the application of the  Heat Action Plan Toolkit. Through the program, participants learn about:

• Identifying community members most affected by extreme heat,
• Accessing and understanding local data related to extreme heat,
• Identifying heat relief and heat mitigation strategies,
• Potential funding opportunities for project implementation and more.

Using the template plan in the toolkit, participants build a draft heat action plan for their community.

The NC Planning for Extreme Heat Cohort is a seven-month program. During this time, the program hosts-- the State Resilience Office and the State Climate Office--lead virtual learning sessions every other week with heat planning and policy experts, health professionals, climate scientists and other local governments. The program will help participants build a network to support heat action plan development and implementation. Participants dedicate an average of five hours each week to program activities, . Cohort members have access to one-on-one advice and learning from the program hosts and other partners. Participation in this program is free.

Applications for the 2025-2026 Planning for Extreme Heat Cohort will close on August 29, 2025. 

Eligibility: Applicants must be staff or elected officials from NC municipality or county government. Community organizations, academics and councils of government may apply in partnership with participating local governments. 

Lessons from the 2024-2025 Cohort Program: 
In the first cohort program, we observed several practices that generated great heat planning outcomes for participating communities: 

•  Engage both municipal and county governments on your planning team. The program will accept applications form individual communities, but we strongly encourage applications from multi-jurisdiction teams within the same county. In the 2024-2025 cohort, all communities ended up engaging county and municipal jurisdictions in their planning processes. Counties and municipalities have different functions that serve the same residents, bringing these services together under one plan can enhance service delivery and reduce redundancies.
• Get your team size right. While a heat planning process will bring together a larger range of stakeholders, a team of three to eight members is ideal for participating in the cohort program. This team size allows your jurisdictions to collaborate based on the same information without losing focus or trying to convene too many participants each week.
• Include Public Health and Emergency Management. These departments bring a great deal of expertise about heat preparedness and response and should be included in your heat action planning process. Other relevant departments may be: Planning, Sustainability, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, and City/Town/County Management.
• Designate a Team Lead. Your team lead will help to keep the team and the planning process on track.  Team leads also:
  • Serve as a point of contact (for the cohort hosts and the other team members).
  • Ensure that someone will be in attendance at every virtual learning session.
  • Schedule and set agendas for internal team working sessions.

Please note: The number of communities the program can accommodate is limited. Program hosts will consider complete applications on a first-come, first-served basis. 

• Access to trusted subject matter experts
• Professional skill building for local government staff
• Engage with North Carolina peers who are working on the same project at the same time
• Work through the heat action plan drafting process
• Build local partners for heat action plan implementation

The State Resilience Office and the State Climate Office appreciate the support and collaboration of the following partner agencies:

• NC Department of Health and Human Services
• Duke University Heat Policy Innovation Hub
• NCSU Climate and Sustainability Academy
• The National Weather Service--Raleigh Forecast Office 

If you have additional questions or would like to discuss your application, please contact: 

Andrea Webster, Resilience Policy Advisor, State Resilience Office
919-576-6450

Hear from past participants of the Planning for Extreme Heat Cohort Program: 

"This is one of the most useful and effective cohort programs I've participated in! The speakers, resources, activities, support and especially the networking and learnings from our peer communities equipped us with the knowledge and tools to make significant progress on our Heat Action Plan. Without the cohort, I doubt we'd be this close to putting a plan in place. I highly recommend this program." 
Amy Armbruster, Chief Sustainability Officer, Town of Carrboro.

"We wouldn't have a comprehensive heat action plan for our community were it not for the [State Resilience Office] team and the way it brought our county partners together to focus on the impacts of extreme heat and the best practices for addressing it." 
John Richardson, Community Sustainability Manager, Town of Chapel Hill

"Without the [State Resilience Office's] Planning for Extreme Heat Cohort Program, we could not have convened the right group to get an Extreme Heat Action Plan started. The resources that [the SRO] shared and the speakers who appeared at our weekly cohort sessions provided valuable insights into how heat affects our communities and what a successful Action Plan looks like. [SRO] staff were knowledgeable and responsive to our questions. Perhaps most importantly, the ability to learn and collaborate with other cohort members from across the state was invaluable, allowing us to punch above our weight by sharing resources and lessons!" 
Joseph Wiswell, UNC-Charlotte

"The Extreme Heat Cohort was an invaluable experience for both me and my community. It brought together key stakeholders involved in extreme heat and provided a structured framework to guide our heat action planning. Early in the program, we recognized that many heat-related efforts were already happening organically across the community. The cohort gave us the opportunity to approach these actions more inentionally and collaboratively, leading to the development of a multijurisdictional plan that strengthens current practices while laying the groundwork for future initiatives. It also helped me build new connections and reinforce existing partnerships. This process has made the intersection of sustainability, emergency management, and public health more visible and has opened the door to additional areas of collaboration. 
Hannah Tuckman, Emergency Management Planner, Orange County Emergency Services