While there is no one way to solve the many complex impacts of extreme heat, it’s important to establish a general framework to understand how governments can work together to address heat risk. This guide presents a novel Maturity Model for Heat Governance that allows leaders and decision-makers to examine their capacity to successfully manage heat risk.

The maturity model described in this guide may provide a pathway to effective governance over the challenges of managing heat risks. The model can help communities assess the current state of their heat governance, and highlight opportunities for developing or strengthening processes and institutions that can address heat risks. If used over time, the model could also be used to track progress toward building heat resilience.

This living document will continue to evolve as it is applied in more contexts, and it was developed to be applicable to a diverse range of communities and governments from the start. Communities are invited to apply this model to understand gaps and challenges that should be addressed, and suggestions are welcome to improve this guide and the maturity model it describes.