31 record(s) found.

citiesPLUS  Sustainable Urban Systems Design: Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Component

The citiesPLUS initiative developed Canada's first 100-year plan for a sustainable metropolitan area (the Greater Vancouver Regional District), incorporating economic, social and environmental priorities in a systems approach. This project was part of the International Urban Systems Design Competition, involving eight countries and organized and partly sponsored by the International Gas Union. Due to the long-term nature of the plan, it was necessary to address the impacts of climate change. The report presents a preliminary assessment of the impacts of climate change on each of the urban systems in Greater Vancouver and also includes a description of key adaptation and general resiliency strategies for the region. The results of the project are being considered by the GVRD for inclusion in their Liveable Region Strategic Plan and in their greenhouse gas reduction strategy. In June 2003 in Tokyo, the international judging panel awarded the competition's grand prize to the citiesPLUS Team.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report: Available

Climate change, permafrost degradation and infrastructure adaptation: community case studies in the Mackenzie Valley

In many northern communities much of the infrastructure, including roads, foundations and utilities, relies on the strength of permafrost for stability. As such, the effects of climate warming on permafrost represent a key concern in the north. To help the towns of Norman Wells and Tuktoyaktuk prepare for potential changes, researchers conducted in-depth assessments of current and future permafrost conditions and infrastructure sensitivity through the use of literature reviews and thermal modelling. Stakeholders were involved throughout all stages of the project, and results were presented and made available to community officials, planners and engineers for use in their decision-making. The researchers also provided each town with ideas and tools for developing adaptation strategies to deal with the projected changes in permafrost.

Project Status: Complete

Evaluating Rooftop and Vertical Gardens as an Adaptation Strategy for Urban Areas

In urban areas, more frequent heat waves, higher temperatures and more intense precipitation events are key concerns related to climate change. The use of rooftop gardens has the potential to lessen these impacts, while simultaneously providing ancillary benefits, including reduced energy expenditures and improved lifespan of roofing materials. To test the applicability of this adaptation strategy, researchers divided the roof of a test house in Ottawa, Ontario into two sections: one containing a rooftop garden (green roof), the other with conventional roofing (control). They found that the green roof significantly decreased heat flux through the roof, and could therefore reduce cooling needs in the summer, and heat loss in the winter. The green roof also reduced the rate and quantity of runoff during precipitation events, as the vegetation was able to intercept much of the incoming water. Widespread use of these green roofs in urban areas has the potential to reduce the heat island effect, and thereby moderate periods of extreme heat. However, further research and considerable public and industry education is required before green roofs become common in Canada.

Project Status: Complete

Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation in Newfoundland Coastal Communities

Consulting with community residents to identify impacts of local concern was the critical first step of this study in Conception Bay south, Newfoundland. These concerns included coastal erosion, infrastructure damage and implications for town management and development. Researchers then used historic data to evaluate past climatic impacts and to identify which parts of the coast are most sensitive to flooding and erosion. Finally, options (preventing development in areas of known vulnerability, implementing setback limits) were recommended as a proactive means of limiting future impacts.

Project Status: Complete

Municipal Infrastructure Risk Project (Across Canada)

Researchers conducted interviews in six municipalities across the country to better understand the barriers to climate change adaptation at the municipal level. These interviews revealed that financial constraints, attitudes of the public and council members, and the nature of municipal politics were key factors limiting the consideration of climate change in infrastructure decisions. For example, municipalities were not comfortable undertaking long-term financial and infrastructure planning without guarantees of funds from provincial government. In addition, priorities are set, and final decisions are made by council members, many of whom may not consider climate change to be a priority issue within their three-year term of office. Indeed, lack of awareness of the importance of climate change issues among both the public and councillors, was an often-cited barrier to adaptation. Another significant constraint was insufficient municipal staff time and resources to plan for future climate change impacts. To begin to overcome these barriers, researchers recommend increasing awareness and understanding of climate change, and providing municipal staff with detailed information on potential climate change impacts on infrastructure. Improving relationships and communication between scientific researchers and municipal staff was also suggested, as were various ideas for dealing with financial barriers (e.g., funding opportunities).

Project Status: Complete

Further Research Information:  Available

Full Report: Available

Adaptation of Prairie Cities: The Role of Climate

Researchers suggest that there is a need for more comprehensive impacts and adaptation strategies in Prairie cities. At present, there is a lack of knowledge and awareness of potential impacts and adaptation strategies, and generally poor incorporation of weather and climate information in decision-making. This results in cities on the Prairies being characterized by a high vulnerability to future climatic changes, such as increased temperatures, lower water levels, and more frequent extreme events.  To decrease vulnerability, researchers recommended the implementation of no-regrets adaptation strategies, improved communication between scientists, decision-makers and the public, and increased budget flexibility to allow departments to incorporate climate change into long-term planning. For example, utility and transportation services have an excellent opportunity to account for future climate change during routine upgrades and maintenance. Through this strategy, small increases in present-day investments have great potential to reduce the need for expensive repairs in the future.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report: Available

Assessing Vulnerability to Sea Ice Change: An example from Igloolik, Nunavut

Sea ice plays an important role in the life of Arctic coastal communities. The case study will bring together existing research on local adaptive capacity, sea ice observations, traditional knowledge, and scientific sea ice modelling to examine current and future vulnerability of the community of Igloolik to changes in climate.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report: Available

A Comparative Assessment of the Capacity of Canadian Rural Communities to Adapt to Uncertain Futures

Changes in ecosystems supporting communities in coastal Newfoundland and British Columbia, central Canada and northern Saskatchewan have already occurred and climate change in conjunction with other socio-economic and political factors will continue to effect livelihoods in these rural communities. This comparative assessment will employ a human vulnerability-security research framework to assess each community's capacity to cope with and, if necessary, adapt to uncertain futures including climatic change.

Project Status: Complete

Further Research Information:  Available

Full Report:  Abstract available,  Available

Promoting community sustainability through adaptive responses to socio-economic and risk assessments of the potential impacts of climate change scenarios in a natural resource-based, mid-sized Canadian Shield community:  Greater Sudbury Ontario

This project aims to explore how this natural resource-based community's socio-economic activities are vulnerable to current and future climate, the potential barriers to adaptation and learn how information about climate change should be structured for use by local decision-makers. The approach being developed will integrate across sectors and be based on the participation of the community.

Project Status: In Progress

Full Report: Available

Climate and climate change vulnerability assessment of northern renewable resource based communities (NRRBC)

The project will combine biological modeling and socioeconomic analysis to develop an integrated assessment approach for assessment of factors contributing to the vulnerability of renewable resource based communities in Canada. The assessment methodology will be tested on two Canadian communities. An important and relatively unique dimension of this project is that the analysis of impacts and community capacities will be undertaken at scales relevant to community decision makers (i.e. relatively high spatial resolution compared to most vulnerability assessments). Through partnership with the Model Forest program communities will be engaged in the project and examination of the results.

Project Status: In Progress

Integrated assessment of vulnerability and adaptive capacity in a northern community: Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories

This project will assess vulnerability to climate change and associated impacts using a multi-scale livelihood approach and contribute to building capacity to proactively adapt to change in the Slave River Delta region. Working in collaboration with the community of Fort Resolution, the research team will identify opportunities to build adaptive capacity and strategies and options available to the community that address the risks of climate change.

Project Status: In Progress

ISI WIPAN - Climate: Identifying the impacts of climate change and capacity for adaptation in two Saskatchewan First Nations communities

This research project will examine the integrated and interconnected impacts of climate change across various sectors in two First Nation communities in Saskatchewan. This project will use a holistic frame-work, compatible to Indigenous worldviews that emphasizes the interconnections between social, cultural and natural systems. The proposed project will develop more focused research with two communities, who have identified significant climate change concerns around impacts on water, forest ecosystems, availability of culturally important plants, and livelihood activities.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report:  Abstract available,  Available

Risk Management Guidelines for Adaptation Decision Making in Municipalities

Using a draft guide “Risk-based Adaptation to Climate Change: A Guide for Ontario Municipalities” developed through workshops in 2005. In this project, the draft guide will be tested in a workshop setting to test its utility in the Ontario municipal institutional context.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report:  Abstract available,  Available

Adaptive Decision and Planning Tools (ADAPT) in Canadian Artic Communities

Arctic communities face multiple forces of change at the same time, including climate change. The purpose of this research in the north is to develop decision-aiding tools to assist communities in planning strategically under conditions of high uncertainty. Currently there are no analytic tools that can be easily adopted by Arctic communities to work toward assessing their own vulnerability and plan to adapt to a change in climate. This project will work collaboratively with the communities of Cambridge Bay, Baker Lake and Pond Inlet to create these tools.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report:  Abstract available,  Available

Climate Change Adaptation for Land Use Planners

The project will develop a toolkit for Land Use Planners to assist them in assessing potential climate change impacts and alternative land use adaptation scenarios, and in implementing climate change adaptation planning techniques. The resulting toolkit will be developed and tested with two sites in Nova Scotia. Qualitative impacts analyses will be studied at these sites, as well as in-depth risk analyses of climate change impacts and adaptations for flooding in one community, and drought in the other.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report: Available

Costs and cost difference assessment for impacts of permafrost degradation on community building foundations in the Northwest Territories under different climate change and adaptation scenarios

This project aims to improve the understanding of the costs of climate-induced permafrost degradation to northern communities, the difference in the costs due to different rates of climate change and the timeframes when the costs may occur. Communities in the Northwest Territories will participate in the case study. A permafrost model developed to specifically address permafrost response to climate change for buildings will be used to simulate potential changes in the depth of active layers due to climate change in the future. These changes will then be translated into building foundation risks. The research team will use this information to estimate costs to adaptation with respect to infrastructure within different timeframes.

Project Status: In Progress

The Tap Runs Dry: Lessons Learned and Forgotten by Southern Ontario Communities during Past Severe Droughts and Implications for Climate Change

The project will involve stakeholder consultations with Conservation Authorities and selected municipalities to seek input on historical drought impacts, drought indices, past vulnerabilities to severe drought. The team will collect and summarize the physical and socioeconomic impacts of drought for several case study communities and water sheds, document and evaluate the adaptation options used during past severe droughts for these locations and develop a vulnerability index and maps to identify locations of past severe drought and vulnerability to drought impacts in southern Ontario.

Project Status: In Progress

Walpole Island First Nation:  Evaluation of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Options

The objectives of this project were to investigate what climate changes are occurring and are predicted to occur that may have an impact on Walpole Island's economy, ecosystems and the health of their community members. Some of their findings concluded that in the future, the community of Walpole Island could expect to see increased severe weather events that will be short in duration but increased in intensity. These events will have impacts on their agricultural industry, hunting and fishing, and ultimately affect the economic and physical health of their community members. Decreased groundwater levels, decreased lake levels and the increase of the arrival of invasive species will have an impact on their wetlands, marshes, coastal habitats and forests. This will directly affect the community of Walpole Island. Along with understanding the effects of climate change on their community, the researchers engaged the community in the project, using the opportunity to promote the message of climate change to the community and how climate change could affect their lives and livelihoods. Citizen engagement and sharing knowledge gained through the course of the project is a major outcome of this research.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report: Available

Government Roles in Climate Change Adaptations for Urban Infrastructure

The purpose of this project is to understand the roles that different levels of government play with regard to climate change adaptation for protection of urban infrastructure. This project will study City of Fredericton infrastructure projects to identify the roles of different levels of government in the management of urban infrastructure. The researchers will attempt to identify the potential for government decision makers at the local through to central level of government to consider climate change adaptation in the development and management of these services.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report:  Abstract available,  Available

Climate-SMART (Climate-Change Sustainable Mitigation & Adaptation Risk Toolkits)

A collaborative project involving the private and public sectors, with the overall objective of assisting Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) in the mainstreaming of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction and climate change impact/adaptation considerations into HRM's decision-making processes. The project will provide HRM with: an emissions management plan; statistically downscaled climate change scenarios; climate change hazard mapping; and tools to facilitate adaptation to climate change. The project is designed so that the lessons learned and the tools developed during the process can be applied to other municipalities in the future.

Project Status: Complete

Further Research Information:  Available

Full Report:  Abstract available,  Available

Climate Change Planning Tools for First Nations: Adapting to Climate Variability and Change

This project will develop user-friendly, adaptable First Nation climate change planning tools, through participatory research and partnerships with a First Nation in Manitoba and another in Saskatchewan. The tools will focus on process and decisions for planning, as opposed to specific impacts but will use specific examples and scenarios for illustration. The tools will take the form of a series of guidebooks and will include both western and indigenous approaches and information.

Project Status: Complete

Further Research Information:  Available

Full Report: Available

Policies, governance and building community capacity to adapt to climate change in island and continental coastal zones.  

The primary objective of this project is to evaluate public policies governing coastal zones and the development and management of sanitary infrastructures and local services that take anticipated climate change into account and if the plans currently in place are appropriate. The project will also analyze government measures to determine whether the socio-economic development plans and land use and urban planning of the coastal municipalities or planning commissions take recent and anticipated climate change effects into account.

Project Status: In Progress

Climate Change Impacts on Winter Roads and Lake/River Ice Conditions – Effects on First Nations Communities in Northern, Central and Eastern Manitoba and their Capacity to Adapt

This project will document socio-economic impacts of changes in the winter road season and lake river ice conditions in First Nation communities. The researchers will travel to five communities across northern, central, and eastern Manitoba interested in sharing information about the socio-economic impacts of shortened and unreliable winter road seasons and degradation of river / lake ice conditions on their communities. The project team will survey individuals from various organizations including universities, governments, First Nations organizations, transportation and road construction companies, and the Northern Store to assess their capacity to deal with anticipated impacts of climate change, and to determine if they have developed adaptation strategies to deal with these impacts.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report:  Abstract available,  Available

Costing the Impacts of Climate Change in Atlantic Canada using Recent Climate-Related Events as Benchmarks

This project will develop a tool for communities to use to examine the likely climate change costs in their own communities. It will develop a methodology for costing recent climate-related events and projecting these costs into the future. This methodology will be tested using the 2005 flooding event for the City of Fredericton as a case study. The research results of this project will provide Fredericton with a costing methodology and applied estimates of recent climate-related events to benchmark future climate change costs.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report:  Abstract available,  Available

Climate Change in Northern Quebec and Nunavik:  Access to Territory and Resources

Future climate change at northern latitudes will affect subsistence-based activities. Shorter and warmer winters may alter the period when it is safe to use ice trails, affecting human safety and the timing at which hunting areas are accessible. This could cause socio-economic and health problems. The project seeks to examine the magnitude of the impacts, predict the rhythm of the changes and develop a set of adaptation strategies based on both traditional and scientific knowledge of climate related changes and community responses. It will provide tools that will assist northern communities in coping with the unprecedented challenges that they may experience in the face of climate change.

Project Status: In Progress

Further Research Information:  Available

Adapting to Climate Change in Toronto

Focussing on the City of Toronto, this project will undertake: a scan and summary of climate change impacts that are possible in Toronto; a review of other municipalities which have begun climate change adaptation planning, and case studies of the most interesting and relevant programs for the City of Toronto. The research team will have meetings and workshops to engage municipal decision-makers in thinking about potential climate change impacts and possible responses to these impacts, as well as selecting priority sectors for adaptation planning.

Project Status: Complete

Further Research Information:  Available

Full Report: Available

Community Planning Tools and Approaches for Protecting Freshwater Shorelines in the Thompson-Nicola-Shuswap Region of the BC Interior in Response to Climate Change

This project is focused on the Thompson-Nicola-Shuswap region of the interior of British Columbia. The aim of the project is to identify and develop community planning and management tools to help adapt to the impacts of climate change upon freshwater shorelines. This project will use a consultative process, including use of community focus groups and there are plans to have a forum to engage the public

Project Status: Complete

Further Research Information:  Available

Full Report:  Abstract available,  Available

Economic and social adaptation to climate change in Canadian seasonal-economy communities

Communities in the Addington Highlands region of eastern Ontario have highly seasonal economies. Their economic and social well-being is tied closely to climatic conditions. Community members recognize that climate change is already affecting their economy, and want to know the long-term viability of key, climate-sensitive activities on which their local economy and social well-being is based, to have the analytical tools to assess and plan for adjustments that may need to be made, and to identify future opportunities that may arise. This project will assess the economic and social impacts of climate change and adaptive responses and opportunities available to residents in this case study. The project methodology and resulting lessons learned will be transferable to similar communities across Canada.

Project Status: Complete

Further Research Information:  Available

Full Report: Available

Enhancing the capacity of Canadian rural communities to adapt to uncertain futures

A previous project entitled A Comparative Assessment of the Capacity of Rural Resource-based Communities to Adapt to Uncertain Futures that identified how climate change and other environmental and societal changes threaten the livelihoods of residents of communities is the foundation for the current project which investigates how adaptation strategies may be implemented in rural communities to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities previously identified by:

• Developing a better understanding of the relationship between rural community planning and community vulnerability to climate change; and
• Assessing the capacity of current community decision-making structures to manage and respond to future risks and uncertainties resulting from climate change.

The communities of Alert Bay, Change Islands and Edwardsburgh/Cardinal will be participants in this project. In addition to helping start the process of identifying adaptations and how to mainstream them into community planning, this project will provide within each community a forum or community decision-makers and planners to increase their understanding of the relationship between environmental processes, societal changes and decision making structures. The project also provides an opportunity for exchanges of lessons learned and best practices between the participating communities.

The insights gained through this project are not necessarily restricted to the participating communities. This project sets each community within a broader range of barriers to and opportunities for adaptation that are present throughout large parts of rural Canada, and so that the lessons learned may be shared with and thereby provides initial insights into adaptation opportunities elsewhere.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report: Available

Climate change adaptation strategies for medicine gatherers in two Mi’kmaq communities of New Brunswick

The objectives of this research are to explore the benefits and detriments of two approaches to medicine gathering in the Mi’kmaq First Nation communities of Elsipogtog and Eel River Bar, and to examine the implications of these approaches for climate change adaptation. The project will increase the overall adaptive capacity of Mi’kmaq medicine gatherers, as well as their communities, and provide knowledge to non-aboriginals regarding adaptation strategies for traditional ecological resources. Results will be shared with the research community, medicine gatherers, and community decision-makers via a project report and a one-day workshop. The overall goal of the project is to generate knowledge of actions that may be required to increase the adaptive capacity of Mi’kmaq communities in the Southern Gulf of St-Lawrence and greater Atlantic region.

Project Status: In Progress

Further Research Information:  Available

Nikan Oti – The Future: Understanding Adaptive Capacity in Two First Nations Communities

This research examines two community initiatives that address adaptation and adaptive capacity and how communities make adjustments to their natural or human systems to minimize their risks and position them to take advantage of new opportunities that climate change may present. The research contributes to an understanding of adaptation and adaptive capacity, both to a broader understanding of these in general but also specifically relevant to First Nations communities. This research engages First Nations perspectives and western methods in science and technology in a reciprocal process of learning that will greatly enhance understanding of human responses to climate change. The research focuses on the community initiatives of two First Nations and how science and technology can enhance community aspirations for minimum risk adjustment in response to actual or expected changes.

Project Status: Complete

Full Report: Available