Turning Ambition into Action: Decarbonising Health and Social Care Locally

Lizzy Curtis from  the Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) team presented key research insights from HEARTH, ARCADE, and THERM-UK programmes, alongside work led by Dale Hoyland at the Local Government Association’s webinar, Turning Ambition into Action: Decarbonising Health and Social Care Locally, on 16 September 2026.

The session explored key opportunities, challenges, and current activities surrounding the decarbonisation of local health and social care infrastructure.

The OCC presentation highlighted collaborative research delivered across the HEARTH, ARCADE, and THERM-UK programmes, sharing high-level early insights from room monitoring and observational research across participating retirement housing, care homes, and extra-care housing schemes. These included emerging findings on indoor temperatures, building performance, and current heat adaptation practices.

It also showcased the strategic work of the Retrofit Strategy team in Oxfordshire, highlighting the council's vital role in supporting participant recruitment and fostering cross-sector collaboration between local authorities, care providers, and academic partners, generating evidence to inform future policy and practice for healthy, net-zero, and climate-resilient homes and care settings.