Abstract

Extreme heat in coastal Bangladesh is rarely an isolated hazard. In low-lying saline environments, heat interacts with drought, freshwater scarcity, cyclones, tidal surges, waterlogging, lightning and climate-sensitive livelihoods, creating compound risks for health, mobility, income and household recovery. This article examines a community-ledresilience model implemented through the Inclusive Community Resilience to Disaster and Climate Vulnerabilities (ICRDCV) programme in Assasuni Upazila, Satkhira. Using a practice-based descriptive case-study design, the paper synthesizes project baseline information, Risk Reduction Action Plans (RRAPs), routine monitoring records, progress reports and implementation evidence available through 15 August 2026. The programme covers 68 communities in 27 wards across three unions and combines community risk planning, local disaster-management institutions, last-mile early warning, community-prioritized risk-reduction works, heat-health communication, climate-resilient water and sanitation, tree planting, livelihood diversification and local-government financing. Descriptive results show 31 functioning disaster-management committees, RRAP coverage in all 68 communities, 14 completed local risk-reduction/adaptation works, 54 permanent early-warning and lightning-safety boards, 3,330 climate-resilient trees, support to 720 livelihood households, 70 programme-wide household rainwater-harvesting systems, a 20,000-litre community rainwater-harvesting system, and incorporation of disaster risk reduction/climate change adaptation allocations into all three target Union Parishad budgets. The analysis argues that the programme’s principal innovation is not a stand-alone heatwave intervention but a compound-risk resilience pathway in which community agency identifies priorities, layered interventions reduce exposure and sensitivity, and local institutions create a route from community demand to public financing. The case suggests that heat resilience in vulnerable coastal settings is strengthened when safe water, livelihood security, social inclusion, ecosystem measures, preparedness and local governance are designed as mutually reinforcing components. Because the evidence comes from programme monitoring rather than an experimental evaluation, causal claims are not made; instead, the article identifies a replicable implementation architecture and priorities for more rigorous future evaluation.

Keywords

heat resilience community-based adaptation, disaster risk reduction, water security, climate-resilient livelihoods, local governance, Bangladesh, Satkhira