CONCEPT

Cool Routes
Web Design & Development — Climate Tech / Civic Initiative

Cool Routes is a community-driven pilot project born out of Reinventing Heat, a narrative hackathon run by Mindworks Lab as part of the Greece Heatwave Project, with support from the European Climate Foundation. The goal: help people navigate central Athens during heatwaves by mapping “cool stops” — shaded spots, drinking fountains, and breezy corners — contributed directly by the people who walk the city.

As the WordPress developer behind the project, I built a fast, lightweight custom site designed for one clear purpose: get people from “I’m overheating” to “here’s a cool spot near me” in seconds. The site integrates a live, embedded Google My Maps layer for real-time community pin submissions, alongside clear, mobile-first heat-safety guidance — since most users are checking this mid-walk, on a phone, in the sun.

The project launched with support from the National Observatory of Athens, Greenpeace Greece, and OASA (Athens Urban Transport Organization), and represents the kind of custom WordPress development in Athens I enjoy most: purposeful, fast, and built for real people solving a real, local problem.

Services: Custom WordPress Website Design & Development, Athens, Greece