About

REACH Nexus stands for Resilience to Extreme weather: Advancing Climate-Health. Formally registered as the Urban Climate Health Nexus (UCH-Nexus), the project is a five-year Dutch–Brazilian research consortium running from 1 May 2026 to 2031. It is jointly funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) under the Merian Fund.

Co-led by Reinout Wiers (Universiteit van Amsterdam) and Leandro Giatti (University of São Paulo), the consortium investigates how urban heat, flooding and air pollution shape mental and physical health in vulnerable neighbourhoods. The work spans four case sites: two in Brazil (Jardim Pantanal in São Paulo and Parque das Tribos in Manaus) and two in the Netherlands (Nelson Mandelapark in Amsterdam and Ede). Partner institutions include UvA, Amsterdam UMC, USP, FGV, IEE/USP, Fiocruz Amazônia, Instituto Alana, and the municipalities of Amsterdam and Ede.

Across five work packages, the project combines participatory governance, system-dynamics modelling, public-health analysis, citizen-science fieldwork and policy innovation to produce site-specific recommendations and a transferable framework for vulnerable urban communities elsewhere.