Request for Proposals - Heat-Health-Built Environment Nexus

Request for Proposals (RfP)

India Resources Trust

Terms of Reference (TOR) :

Overview of the Organization:

WRI India, an independent charity legally registered as the India Resources Trust, provides objective information and practical proposals to foster environmentally sound and socially equitable development. As an independent research organization, we leverage our data and expertise to catalyze change across systems like food, land and water; energy; and cities. Our work focuses on improving people's lives, protecting and restoring nature, and addressing climate change. To enable progress at the pace and scale needed, we also engage with the economic, finance and governance systems that are key to enabling this change.

Project Title: Heat-Health-Built Environment Nexus:

Assessment Framework and Research for Urban Informal Settlements and Vulnerable Communities

1. Background and Rationale

Extreme heat events, intensified by climate change and the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, pose a critical threat to public health. In the global South, residents of Informal Settlements (IS) and Vulnerable Communities (VC) are disproportionately vulnerable due to:

Occupational Exposure: Strenuous, low-paying jobs in heat-exposed environments.

Housing Vulnerability: Concretized, poorly ventilated, and dense built environments that aggregate heat.

There is a crucial Information Gap due to the lack of granular data on how the built environment moderates or multiplies heat-health risks, preventing the creation of effective, hyperlocal policy responses.

2. Objectives

The primary goal of this project is to bridge the data gap between ambient temperature, the built environment, and health outcomes among the IS and VCs.

Analyze the Nexus: Understand the relationship between heat and health in the context of the built environment will be select communities in two Indian metropolises (Mumbai and Bengaluru).

Study design: Develop the study design including sample numbers, data collection protocols, survey tools.

Data analysis and report: The collected data will be analysed using various data tools to arrive at clear correlations of heat-health impacts and modifying effects of housing, occupation and other parameters.

Framework Development: Create an Assessment Framework to assist local governments in customized policy-making.

3. Scope of Work and Methodology

The project will employ a multi-disciplinary approach over a 10-month period.

A. Literature Review

A comprehensive review to identify key variables and parameters (environmental, social, and structural) that will inform the primary study tools and the final Assessment Framework.

B. Primary Study Design

Setting: Informal Settlements and Vulnerable Communities in Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Design: A repeat-measure longitudinal study.

Temporal Scope: Data collection at three critical intervals:

Pre/ early-summer

Peak summer

Post-monsoon (addressing high-humidity heat).

C. Measurement Parameters

Category and Parameters to be Measured listed below

Exposure: Land Surface Temperature (LST), humidity, wind flow, rainfall, and indoor household temperatures.

Health and Lifestyle: Objectively measured health indicators, diet, vocation-related physical strain, and lifestyle activities.

Built Environment: Housing materials, density, and local infrastructure characteristics.

Secondary Data: All-cause mortality data from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and vital statistics offices.

4. Roles and Responsibilities of Research Consultant/ Consultant Organization

The consultant will lead the following work packages:

Technical Design: Development of study design, sample size estimation, and sampling protocols for households/individuals.

Field Management: Development and pre-testing of tools, training of data collection teams, and rigorous supervision of data management.

Data Analysis: Analysis of primary and secondary data to estimate the heat-health relationship and the effect modification role of housing characteristics.

Knowledge Translation: Writing technical reports, peer-reviewed manuscripts, and policy briefs.

Policy Engagement: Developing evidence-based recommendations/frameworks for consideration by relevant stakeholders

5. Timeline and Milestones

The project is scheduled to run for 10 months, tentatively from March 2026 to December 2026. Milestones for this Research Consultant are outlined below.

Milestone 1 (End march 2026)

Literature review

Study design

Training materials

Milestone 2 (end June 2026)

All data collection periods completed

Data collation and cleaning

Data analytics and insights

Milestone 3 (Nov 2026)

Finalized assessment framework

Report submission

Knowledge products

Policy facing knowledge products

Interested candidates/organizations mandatorily need to send the following to [Confidential Information] to be considered:

• Technical proposal demonstrating relevant work Experience, any specific methodologies used or referred, how can you contribute to the scope of work.
• Financial proposal with a clear cost breakup.
• CVs of the proposed team members.
• Past project experience and work samples.

Selection Criteria: The selection will be based on technical and financial evaluation.

India Resources Trust reserves the right to modify the selection process or reject any proposals at its sole discretion.

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