Heat Tabletop Exercise Planning Challenge

Heat Tabletop Exercise Planning Challenge is sponsored by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This program awarded prize money to communities for developing manuals outlining plans to run heat tabletop exercises.

Applications are now open for the **2026 Heat Tabletop Exercise Design Challenge**, hosted by the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) in the NOAA Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research’s Climate Program Office. The challenge invites community leaders to design situation manuals for **heat tabletop exercises (TTXs)**, which test local heat response efforts through simulated scenarios.

The exercises bring state, local, and Tribal governments and community organizations together to assess how they currently respond to heat and determine how they can better collaborate on short-term and long-term heat resilience. The challenge also prompts communities to plan for heat in the context of another compounding or cascading hazard relevant to the local area.

Guidance and examples for developing situation manuals can be found **here**. **Up to 40 U.S. communities will win a $25,000 prize**. Judges will score the situation manuals based on a variety of criteria, such as creativity and whether the scenario is representative of the local community and its risks.

* Application Deadline: **August 12, 2026 at 11:59 p. m. ET** * Informational webinar: **June 30, 2026 at 3:30-5:00 p.

m. ET**(recording available **here**) **_Building on the success of past tabletop exercises_** NOAA and NIHHIS have previously supported 18 communities in developing situation manuals and hosting heat tabletop exercises. The TTXs empower communities to lead in fostering risk-informed strategies and solutions and enhancing community resilience, taking ownership of their own heat action plans.

By testing and refining their plans, communities can avoid costly, reactive emergency responses. “When communities lead the scenario, solutions stop being theoretical—they become lived and actionable,” said Marc Coudert, Climate Resilience and Adaptation Manager for the City of Austin, Texas, which hosted a TTX in 2025.

This year’s challenge builds on the success of the 2024 Heat Tabletop Exercise Planning Challenge, which supported TTXs in ten U.S. communities. NIHHIS documented key takeaways from these TTXs in the **Heat Tabletops: Lessons Learned and Best Practices** document, which was released earlier this year.

“A heat tabletop exercise was a great opportunity for our departments and our partners to discuss a hazard that happens all the time,” said Madeleine Dotson, Resilience Manager for the City of Mobile, Alabama. “Together, we identified over 30 community action items to improve heat preparedness and response. ”