Small Open Spaces as Urban Climatic Refuges: The Networking Approach

European climate change adaptation policies have identified settlement systems as a critical area on which to act to increase their resilience to risks generated in particular by heat waves, extreme rainfall, and drought phenomena (MiTE, 2021). This paper, arguing about the term "extreme" in the climate change debate, discusses how the definition of "extreme" weather is shifting, challenging traditional conceptions and prompting a re-evaluation of urban resilience strategies and design approaches. Through the environmental design methodology and tools, the study highlights the potential of climate-adaptive design principles, such as flexibility, inclusivity, and sustainability, to convert small open spaces into a resilient urban network to face urban environmental challenges. The research investigates how the networking approach can transform them into an adaptive spaces system in which people can find climate refugees, conceived as cool islands, improving urban resilience and reducing energy poverty.