Fergusson College students visit MEER India's Hanuman Nagar field site

The MEER India team hosted a field visit for students from Fergusson College to observe first-hand how passive cooling solutions are being implemented in heat-vulnerable communities in Pune. The visit was organized and led by Bunny and Samiksha, who invited their graduate college juniors to gain practical exposure to MEER's work, office operations and community-based climate adaptation initiatives.

The visit took place in Hanuman Nagar, where several homes have been fitted with MEER's reflective rooftop sheets. Students first visited the local MEER office before moving to the demonstration site within the settlement, where the visible contrast between untreated metal roofs and those covered with reflective sheets illustrated how surface-based cooling can be applied in dense informal settlements.

The MEER team explained the principles behind the intervention, including how reflective materials reduce solar heat absorption at the roof surface. Students were particularly interested in the simplicity of the installation process and the lightweight nature of the materials. An interactive discussion covered comparisons with other Passive Daytime Radiative Cooling approaches, long-term durability and whether reflected heat could contribute to atmospheric warming.

For many students, visiting the settlement provided an important perspective on how extreme heat affects everyday life in vulnerable communities. Several participants expressed interest in volunteering or joining future field activities — the visit helped connect classroom concepts of heat transfer, albedo and climate resilience with real-world climate adaptation on the ground.