Time Start | Time End | Event |
7:00 am |
8:00 am |
Registration & Refreshments |
8:00 am |
8:20 am |
Conference Check-in & Armchair Dialogue (Plenary) |
8:30 am |
10:00 am |
Concurrent Sessions 4
 (CS4-FR) Strengthening Climate Resilience in the Private Sector posted on 1:39 PM, August 15, 2019
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Moderator: Neil MacEachern
Metrotown Masterplan: Private Sector Leadership in Climate Resilient Community Development
Presenters: Shane O'Hanlon and Graeme Silvera
The Metrotown Master plan is visionary. The staged renewal and reconstruction of Metrotown Mall over the upcoming decades is an historic opportunity to reimagine a significant part of Burnaby’s downtown using the latest thinking in sustainable buildings, while increasing resilience to our rapidly changing climate and regenerating local ecosystems. To do this a bespoke Sustainability and Resilience strategy was developed.
This session will be a presentation exploring the three pillars of this strategy (social, environmental and economic) through a lens of resilience, considering future climate projections and their associated impacts, and how they’ve been woven throughout the plan. Some strategies can be applied immediately and others are medium-term or long-term, and a number of the strategies will be examined in detail in the presentation.
A Small Business Disaster Resilience Study with Implications for Adaptation Planning across Geographies and Sectors
Presenter: Jon Philipsborn
Adaptation planning often focuses on sectors such as power, water and transportation; however, other critical community components require attention due to their importance and role in climate resilience and disaster recovery. A small business (SME) disaster resilience study was completed along six corridors in New Orleans. Over 200 SMEs were surveyed on prior extreme weather experience, risk awareness, preparedness and ability to recover. Results were analyzed and recommendations developed at the business, corridor and city level. Education and engagement were key components: communication with SMEs occurred through in-person surveys, informational material and corridor-specific trainings.
Data on preparedness to current and future hazards is lacking. This presentation will review the SME resilience study’s methodology, results and recommendations. Discussion will include a call for this approach to be applied to SMEs in different cities, as well as tailored for sector specific analysis across other sectors underrepresented in climate adaptation and disaster resilience.
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 (CS4-SS) Adapting to climate change : A transversal matter in electricity utility companies (Oral presentation) posted on 1:39 PM, August 15, 2019
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Moderators: Jacinthe Clavet-Gaumont and Isabelle Charron
Presenters: Frédéric Vigeant, Maureen Daschuk and Kurt Kornelsen
Hydropower companies are critical actors for climate change adaptation. Climate change may pose challenges or create opportunities around production, security and planning of resource use. Many Canadian utilities have been proactive with climate change adaptation research. However, there is still a gap between knowledge on the impact of climate change and the identification of adaptation options and their implementation by the industry.
Important hydropower actors will present shortly their initiatives to address climate change. Afterwards, they will participate to a panel discussion to share experiences and insights about the lessons learned, challenges and benefits regarding the inclusion of climate change on the agenda of executives and the barriers to take concrete actions in their companies. Ouranos, a research partner of many of these companies and an important contributor to climate change adaptation research in Canada, will be moderating the discussion.
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 (CS4-ER) Integrating Natural Elements into Creative Building Practices posted on 5:29 PM, November 14, 2019
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Moderator: Michael Stanyer
Blue-Green Connected Roofs: How much better does a “blue-green connected” roof perform to reduce heating/cooling loads and manage storm water?
Presenter: Harvy Takhar
Enhancing biodiversity in an urbanized area can be achieved by implementing green roofs. A healthy green roof can reduce the energy loads for heating and cooling a building as well as reduce stormwater runoff. However, in many climates green roofs underperform mainly due to drought conditions leading to poor vegetation health during the warmer season. Perhaps including a cavity underneath the green roof’s vegetation and growing medium with a wicking system can keep the vegetation healthier and optimize the performance. This system is called a "connected blue-green roof" for the purposes of this study.
The BCIT research team, in conjunction with the City of Vancouver and research partners, have constructed various instrumented roof assemblies that include a conventional, blue, green and connected blue-green roof. The research aims to provide a quantitative measure for each roof type to measure the heating/cooling load and stormwater management, and to observe the health of the vegetation.
Adaptation through Amphibiation
Presenter: Dr. Elizabeth English
Amphibious housing presents intriguing possibilities in the quest for sustainable responses to the impending global climate change crisis. Suitable new housing types are needed for populated regions where sea level rise and heightened storm activity are expected to intensify flooding. Amphibious foundation systems allow a house to remain close to the ground with the appearance of an ordinary house, but to rise with rising floodwater and float on the surface until the flood recedes, at which time it returns to its original position.
This strategy has great potential to benefit vulnerable populations that currently face the difficult choice between leaving their traditional homelands or living with the devastation that severe flooding can cause in their communities. Amphibious architecture works in synchrony with nature, allowing water to flow where it will rather than attempting to control it. Thus, amphibious retrofitting is a particularly appropriate, low-cost strategy for indigenous cultures with strong connections to place and respect for natural systems.
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 (CS4-PP) Mining Association of Canada - Development of Climate Change Best Practices posted on 5:34 PM, November 14, 2019
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Presenters: Sean Capstick (moderator), Rachel Wyles, Charles Dumaresq and Marc Butler
Mining companies and operators are acting on climate change in response to: regulators requiring information as part of the impact assessment and permitting process; stakeholders demanding environmental, social and governance disclosure; and the impacts that are already affecting operating costs. In response to these issues, the Mining Association of Canada is developing guidance that will provide: a framework on how to characterize the risks to mines from a changing climate; decision-making processes around adaptation measures and allow the implementation of best practices to reduce and manage this risk. This work builds on the International Council on Mining and Metals' recently updated guidance.
This panel presentation will provide an overview of the drivers on mining companies, the available guidance documents, practical actions that operators can take now and case studies from mines that have completed risk assessments and successfully completed the permitting process.
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 (CS4-RA) Transboundary Collaboration on Landscape Resilience posted on 5:40 PM, November 14, 2019
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Moderator: Mike Simpson
Working Together Across Boundaries for a Resilient Cascadia: A bi-national biodiversity climate adaptation strategy and a novel tool to support collaborative conservation in a rapidly changing landscape
Presenters: Gregory Kehm
Climate change will have profound impacts on both the human and natural communities of Cascadia, from declining snowpack and increasing wildfire to shifting habitat availability for native species. The scale and pace of these changes will require a historic effort by public and private partners across broad geographic areas to identify and implement actions that will help human and natural communities adapt. Identifying and implementing a shared regional biodiversity climate adaptation strategy for directing independent and collaborative efforts will be critical to ensuring a sustainable and biodiverse Cascadia region into the future.
This talk will provide an introduction to the initiative, a summary of progress including results of four stakeholder workshops and demonstration of a novel web-based spatial tool supporting dynamic collaborative conservation.
BC and US State Transboundary Collaboration
Presenter: Dennis Paradine
Dennis Paradine will present on British Columbia’s participation in the Pacific Coast Collaborative (PCC), an agreement signed in June 2008 between the Premier of British Columbia and the Governors of Washington, California, and Oregon. The priorities of the PCC include building a sustainable regional economy, clean energy, innovation, emergency management, and regional transportation. The collaborative approach of the PCC was exemplified by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between British Columbia, Washington and California in December 2018 on Pacific Coast Temperate Forests. There is a pledge to share information and work jointly to improve forest resilience and better understand how forests are responding to climate change. Additionally, Dennis will highlight transboundary collaboration initiatives on climate adaptation, the development of climate change tools and data, and the sharing of climate change information, including transboundary science needs.
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 (CS4-AI) Inuit-led Adaptation in Canada's Arctic (Oral Presentations) posted on 6:05 PM, November 14, 2019
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Moderator: Jim Vanderwal
Inuit Adaptation: A Legacy of Engaging with Climate Change
Presenter: Kukik Baker
This session will outline the approach being taken in Arviat, NU by a small community research/action group to address issues of climate impacts on food security, well-being, cultural sustainability, engagement and youth resilience. The focus is on 3 foundational principles around climate issues: the foundation of cultural beliefs; youth engagement; community accountability; a comprehensive overview of the approach; and climate change inequities experienced by Inuit communities and how one community is using cultural strengths and protective practices to address these impacts within a supportive environment of collaboration and community action.
The presentation describes the essential role of cultural beliefs and practices in dynamic and innovation adaptation while detailing the Ujjiqsuiniq Program recognized as an important engagement program that leads to strength-based practice, resilience and stewardship of climate adaptations.
This will be a 20-minute oral presentation with 10 minutes for questions.
NUNAMIN ILLIHAKVIA: An Inuit-Led Climate Change Adaptation Initiative
Presenters: Gilbert Olifie and April Olifie
Climate change is already being experienced by Inuit living in the Canadian Arctic, with implications for travel safety and hunting success. An important factor in the ability to cope with and adapt to climatic changes affecting hunting is the sharing of traditional knowledge, including skills and values, which afford Inuit dynamic and flexible use of the environment even under changing conditions. The Inuit-led and administered Nunamin Illihavia project in Ulukhaktok, NT focuses on this important adaptation entry point by supporting the intergenerational transmission of traditional knowledge important for subsistence. The project has three core foci: 1) subsistence hunting, 2) fur preparation and sewing, and 3) Inuinnaqtun language. The oral presentation, video and discussion will focus on how Nunamin Illihakvia differs from other climate change adaptation initiatives in that it is Inuit-led and indirectly addresses climate change impacts through capacity building.
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 (CS4-HE) Systems-Level Resilience Building: Lessons from Canada’s Health Sector (Workshop) posted on 6:09 PM, November 14, 2019
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Presenters: Deborah Harford (moderator), Dr. Kristie Ebi, Dr. Peter Berry and Angie Woo
The health system is particularly central to the success or failure of climate resilience-building, as it is a nexus of response to the impacts of climate change, yet may itself be severely impacted by climate-related damages and stresses in the short, medium and long term. The health system’s overall resilience will depend on the contributions of a wide variety of disciplines and professions.
This oral presentation will introduce the concept of systems-level climate resilience as a means of illustrating ways to consider this challenge on a systemic level. Presenters will introduce stress-testing tools, provide an overview of how stress-testing has been used elsewhere in Canada, and lead participants through an interactive table-top scenario. The audience will increase their knowledge of climate change impacts on health systems, stress-testing tools and related data and resources, and the operationalization of interdisciplinarity in this context.
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 (CS4-YO) Effectively Understanding, Framing and Responding to Climate Change: Perspectives from Senior University Students posted on 12:41 PM, November 19, 2019
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Presenters: Dr. Ian Picketts (moderator) and students TBC
In this session, select students from Quest University in the fourth year course “Human Responses to Climate Change” will present on aspects of their major class project that focus on climate change adaptation. Presentations will link together in a narrative arc, and will be delivered in creative and varied formats. Significant efforts will go into making these presentations interactive and engaging for the audience. Topics of particularly student interest (and likely focus) include: food security, transportation, sea level rise, inequity, community planning and Indigenous knowledge.
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10:00 am |
10:30 am |
Refreshment Break |
10:30 am |
12:00 pm |
Concurrent Sessions 5
 (CS5-FR) Funding and Financing Opportunities for Green Infrastructure posted on 1:41 PM, August 15, 2019
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Presenters: Roy Brooke (moderator), Rohan Lilauwala and Natalia Moudrak
The session, co-presented by Municipal Natural Assets Initiative (MNAI), Green Infrastructure Foundation (GIF) and the Intact Centre for Climate Adaptation will describe various types of green infrastructure assets — both natural assets and engineered living systems — that can help to mitigate negative impacts of climate change and extreme weather events on Canadians. Session participants will understand the importance of natural assets and engineered living systems for municipal service delivery; understand the emerging business case for green infrastructure and some of the means for determining this; and learn about opportunities for both public sector funding and private sector financing models for green infrastructure solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation.
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 (CS5-SS) Exploring opportunities and barriers to natural/nature-based adaptation in Maritime Canada (Oral presentations) posted on 1:40 PM, August 15, 2019
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Moderator: Dr. Sabine Dietz
Presenters: James Bornemann, Jamie Burke, Adam Cheeseman, Erin Taylor and Dr. Danika van Proosdij
Nature-based adaptation approaches work with ecosystems to increase our resilience to climate change. This adaptation approach is gaining momentum in the Maritime region, as many groups have developed natural/nature-based infrastructure projects (e.g. stormwater ponds, salt marsh restoration) to help address local level impacts (e.g. flooding, erosion, sea level rise).
The goal of this session is to explore successes and opportunities for natural/nature-based adaptation in Maritime Canada, while encouraging a reflection on existing gaps that may be impeding the broad-scale implementation of this approach. Panelists represent various sectors and geographic regions to offer diverse perspectives on this important, yet under-utilized, adaptation approach.
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 (CS5-ER) Climate-smart Conservation Planning and Management: When and where is resistance futile? (Workshop) posted on 10:32 PM, November 15, 2019
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Presenters: Dr. Elizabeth Nelson and Dr. Diana Stralberg (co-moderators), Dr. Carlos Carroll, Jennifer Grant, Dr. Ilona Naujokaitis-Lewis and Dr. Gregor Schuurman
This session will bring together conservation practitioners and researchers to discuss the implications of climate change for protected areas management and conservation priorities. Given the magnitude of change expected over the next century, conservation area managers are already identifying adaptation strategies for species and ecosystems under their protection. The identification of areas of likely ecological persistence (refugia) can inform efficient allocation of conservation resources. However, it is also important to understand when and where resistance is futile, and to begin developing strategies for accommodating, facilitating, and even expediting change.
Session co-organizers Dr. Elizabeth Nelson (Parks Canada) and Dr. Diana Stralberg (University of Alberta) have invited four panelists to provide brief presentations, followed by a series of small group discussions, with the aim of working together to answer the overarching question: “When should we resist, accept, or even facilitate change, and how can we combine these strategies effectively?”
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 (CS5-PP) Introducing Canada’s Climate Data Portal: helping Canadians access and understand climate data and information to reduce the risks from climate change (Workshop) posted on 10:38 PM, November 15, 2019
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Presenters: Lo Cheng (moderator), Isabelle Charron and Trevor Murdock
Climate change poses many risks to the health and well-being of Canadians and their communities. Cities, organizations and businesses need to understand how the climate is changing in order to increase their resilience to the effects of climate change and plan adaptation strategies. This requires access to reliable, timely and relevant climate data and associated information.
The session will provide an overview on how the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (CCCS) is supporting Canadians with information and online tools to consider climate change in their decisions. It will focus on ClimateData.ca, a user-friendly climate data portal that has brought together the expertise of national and regional climate service providers. The three session speakers include representatives from the CCCS and regional partners, Ouranos and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium. Participants will have the opportunity to try out ClimateData.ca to identify how this tool can aid their decision-making and to provide feedback.
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 (CS5-RA) Sharing Knowledge, Building Networks to Address a Changing Prairie Climate (Workshop) posted on 9:36 AM, November 16, 2019
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Moderator: Jo-Ellen Parry
Presenters: Dinah Tambalo and others TBA
Communities and businesses throughout the Prairie Provinces are increasingly managing and preparing for more frequent and intense extreme events such as flooding, droughts and wildfires. This session will provide an opportunity for practitioners engaged in these efforts to share their experiences and learn from one another as they work to ensure that their communities and businesses are better prepared.
An opening presentation will describe how collaboration between the Prairie region’s provincial governments is building interactive networks and successfully engaging target audiences in adaptation. Adaptation practitioners will then discuss key climate adaptation issues within sectors of critical importance to the Prairie region in world café-style table discussions. These discussions will have a strong focus on knowledge sharing, identifying commonly experienced barriers, informing adaptation needs and priorities in the region, and generating solutions to these challenges. The session will be convened by the Prairies Regional Adaptation Collaborative (PRAC).
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 (CS5-AI) Lessons from Adaptation in the Global South (Oral presentations) posted on 9:51 AM, November 16, 2019
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Moderator: Inger Miller
Canada’s Research Contributions to Climate Adaptation in the Global South
Presenter: Marie-Eve Landry and Jorgelina Hardoy
Over more than a decade, Canada has been at the forefront of efforts to cope with the effects of climate change across the developing world. This session will reflect and share concrete examples of the research contributions and learning in the Global South on topics, including climate resilient and inclusive urban and rural development, and on gender and social equity. Understanding that gender and social differences can be a source of resilience rather than simply indicators of vulnerability, the session will provide evidence that integrating social equity in climate research can lead to positive development impacts. These contributions suggest lessons for Canada and adaptation beyond 2020, which include moving beyond assessing bio-physical risk to addressing the root causes of social vulnerability, enabling collaborative research to fill existing knowledge gaps, and working across scales to connect the voices of local practitioners to national and global policy dialogues.
Climate Change Adaptation for Fisheries: Transferable lessons from capacity-limited fishing communities in the Caribbean
Presenters: Jimena Eyzaguirre and Natascia Tamburello
In many coastal communities around the world, marine biodiversity, ecosystems, and fisheries provide sustenance and livelihood opportunities critical to human well-being. However, an increasing number of pressures including coastal development, pollution, overfishing, and now climate change are threatening the continued availability of these opportunities. The increasing availability of government or donor funds for supporting coastal adaptation presents an opportunity to develop systematic approaches to monitoring climate change impacts and implementing adaptation measures in coastal communities.
This presentation outlines key lessons from work on a climate-smart fisheries monitoring and management framework developed for the Caribbean region, including essential indicators for tracking climate change impacts on fisheries across different levels of capacity, decision-making frameworks for selecting and implementing adaptation strategies, and policy recommendations for mainstreaming adaptation in the fisheries sector. Drawing on these lessons, we highlight strategies transferable to climate change adaptation in capacity-limited fishing communities along Canada’s coastlines.
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 (CS5-HE) Working Towards Resilient Indigenous Food Systems posted on 10:01 AM, November 16, 2019
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Moderator: Theresa Fresco
Adapting to a Warming Climate: Gardening Opportunities and Strategies in Subarctic Ontario, Canada
Presenters: Dr. Meaghan Wilton and Jassen Metatawabin
The warming climate of subarctic Ontario, Canada has created challenges to practising the Cree traditional way of life, such as the shifting of migratory game bird routes. However, the warming climate has also presented the Cree with an opportunity − to grow vegetables and fruit under ambient conditions using agroforestry practices.
This two-speaker session will share agroforestry gardening strategies (e.g., willow (Salix sp.) wind-breaks and bush gardens) implemented by Fort Albany First Nation. The use of willow wind-breaks revealed benefits when employed in a community garden setting. The willow trees protected crops from wind, significantly improved phosphorus content of crops, and created a favourable microclimate for crop production. In Fort Albany, planting and harvesting times for crops coincide with times when people are at their camps for hunting activities. Thus, some community members have constructed bush gardens at their camps to have access to fresh vegetables while enjoying traditional activities.
Tłı̨chǫ Dǫtaàts’eedı (Tłı̨chǫ Sharing Food Amongst the People)
Presenters: Paul Cressman
Climate change is being felt acutely in Canada’s north. For the Tłı̨chǫ people in the Northwest Territories, adapting to climate change means addressing food security as well as creating opportunities to build cultural identity: as with the decline in Caribou populations, both are now under threat. Tłı̨chǫ Dǫtaàts’eedı is a simple program on paper with many complex real-life benefits. This presentation will describe how this community-driven climate change adaptation program addresses food security, builds cultural resilience, promotes intergenerational relationships and community support networks, prioritizes traditional knowledge, promotes cultural practices, and creates a culturally appropriate model for community justice.
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 (CS5-YO) Building Resilience in Indigenous communities: Youth Stepping Up to Lead Before the Storm (Workshop) posted on 10:05 AM, November 16, 2019
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Presenters: Lilia Yumagulova (moderator), Devin Naveau, Casey Gabriel, and Amber MacLean-Hawes
Indigenous communities are faced with disproportionate risk of disasters and climate change and are at the forefront of adaptation. Organized by the Preparing Our Home program, this session includes three inspiring stories of building community resilience:
- The Xet̓ólacw Community School, Lil’wat Nation, developed Canada’s first Preparing Our Home community resilience curriculum. Drawing on Traditional Knowledge, this program combines youth-led hazard mapping, firefighting and lifesaving skills.
- Mattagami First Nation has been working hard to fight back against the changing conditions. With a great team, youth leadership and hard work, Mattagami has been able to implement a community-wide “Master Emergency Response Plan.”
- The Emergency Preparedness in Mi’kmaw Communities in Nova Scotia project focuses on using a holistic approach in determining community strengths, weakness and gaps for emergency preparedness, climate change adaptation and health. Youth action can increase community preparedness and lead the way in hopes of establishing lasting community impacts.
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12:00pm |
2:00pm |
Networking Lunch* & Poster Session (1:30-2:00 pm) |
2:00pm |
3:30pm |
Concurrent sessions 6
 (CS6-FR) Measuring the Cost of Adaptation: Adding Up the Bill and Passing the Cheque posted on 1:42 PM, August 15, 2019
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Moderator: Devin Causley
Presenters: Sara Jane O'Neill and Mike Kennedy
Communities across the country are experiencing the impacts from climate change and extreme weather. The bill continues to grow while the funds available to respond are finite. How do we evaluate the rising costs and share the burden in responding across government, industry and the public?
This session will start by sharing the results of recent research conducted by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and Insurance Bureau of Canada on the estimated costs for adapting infrastructure to existing impacts. The session will open with a short set of panel presenters to set the context, followed by a fireside chat with two communities from Canada’s north and east coast where the associated costs of climate change are expected to be highest.
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 (CS6-SS) The Climate Atlas of Canada: Science, Storytelling, and the Future of Adaptation (Workshop) posted on 1:42 PM, August 15, 2019
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Moderator: Brett Huson
Presenters: Dr. Ian Mauro, Danny Blair, Laura Cameron and Duane Nicol
The Climate Atlas of Canada (www.climateatlas.ca) – the flagship project of the University of Winnipeg’s Prairie Climate Centre (PCC) – is increasingly a “go to” tool for Canadians seeking climate resources for public education and applied decision-making. In this interactive session, join the PCC and their partners to learn about the design of this tool and how it weaves together climate science and storytelling with community-based research, filmmaking and adaptation planning. A series of lightening talks will kick off the session, giving participants a high-level overview of the main themes, which will be followed by facilitated breakout sessions that will allow participants to engage more intimately with the PCC team to discuss the specifics of the initiative. Participants will have an opportunity to provide feedback on how the platform – as part of a larger continuum of tools – can be improved to support climate change adaptation locally, regionally and nationally.
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 (CS6-ER) Tackling Invasive Species in a Changing Climate (Oral presentations) posted on 10:25 AM, November 16, 2019
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Moderator: Bob Purdy
Invasion Risk from Vessel Traffic in Marine Protected Areas under Current and Future Climate Conditions
Presenters: Dr. Josephine Iacarella
Non-indigenous species pose a significant threat to the main objective of marine conservation, protecting biodiversity. To-date, there has been limited research quantifying invasion risk to marine protected areas (MPAs) despite the potential consequences of invasions. Dr. Iacarella from Fisheries and Oceans Canada will present research on how invasions in MPAs can be predicted by evaluating suitable environmental conditions under current and future climates and vessel traffic movements as a pathway of spread. This research highlights a major conservation concern often overlooked in MPA spatial planning and management, and applies well-established tools in a novel approach to assess invasion risk.
Best Practices for Managing Invasive Species in the Metro Vancouver Region – Tools for Prevention, Management & Education
Presenters: Tasha Murray and Laurie Bates-Frymel
Invasive species are non-native flora or fauna that can be highly destructive, costly, competitive and difficult to control. Climate change will likely support conditions that allow existing invasive species to flourish and new ones to establish. Prevention and control of invasive species will help to maintain healthy and resilient ecosystems. To support region-wide invasive species management efforts, Metro Vancouver, the Invasive Species Council of Metro Vancouver, Diamond Head Consulting and the Invasive Species Council of British Columbia have created locally-appropriate best management practices (BMPs) for several high-priority species found in the Metro Vancouver region. These guides provide a compendium of technical guidance that has been tested by many researchers and operations experts. This presentation will review the content (and planned future additions) of the BMPs, and discuss how they are contributing to region-wide efforts to increase awareness about invasive species.
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 (CS6-PP) Building Next Level Adaptation: Achieving Optimal Use of Climate Information in Planning and Design (Workshop). posted on 10:30 AM, November 16, 2019
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Moderator: Kari Tyler
Presenters: Trevor Murdock, Robert LePage, Angie Woo and Ralph Wells
When professionals decide to adapt to a new climate, a common desire is for future projections in precisely the same variables and data formats currently used. Adapting to climate change will require more fundamental changes in habits and practice than this. First, adapting to climate change involves climate conditions that continue to change with time throughout the lifespan of most infrastructure. This represents an unprecedented design challenge. Second, while trying to provide future information in the same form as used before is a good first step, the next step is to consider the use of information and heuristics in different ways than in the past. Following a brief slide presentation, several concrete examples in the energy efficiency and health care buildings sectors will highlight these next two layers of the adaptation onion.
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 (CS6-RA) First Nations Community Engagement on Adaptation (Oral presentations) posted on 10:38 AM, November 16, 2019
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Calling on the Collective Skills of Aboriginal Peoples
Moderator: Neil MacEachern
Presenters: Dany Johnny Chilton and Samuel Castonguay
The dangers of climate change are rapidly increasing on the Atikamekw’s lands, as the community transitions from a nomadic way of life to a predominantly sedentary lifestyle.
The Atikamekw Nation Council has decided to develop a traditional approach to resolve both of these current problems. The project involves establishing a holistic approach in describing how the community functions to collectively teach its members to rapidly adapt to the changes which affect it. We want to develop a collective ability to read and interpret the signs of the sociosphere, similar to the approach put in place for Notcimik. The aim is to enable community members to detect the dangers and opportunities they encounter. The first intended result is to create a collective ability to identify and understand issues of the highest priority related to the community’s functioning and development, as well as to identify workable, potential solutions.
Fire with Fire: Braiding Indigenous and Scientific Knowledges of Fire Management using Participatory Video Method to Enhance Climate Change Resilience
Presenters: Laura Lynes (moderator), Alvin First Rider, Kyra Northwest and Marley Kozak
Fire with Fire — an initiative supported by Natural Resources Canada’s Building Regional Adaptation Capacity and Expertise (BRACE) Program — is engaging multiple partners in a novel approach to adaptation by developing the capacity of Indigenous communities to share, exchange and validate their knowledge and perspectives on wildfire through participatory video — a proven tool to document and share Indigenous knowledge that can inform local, regional and international adaptation efforts and policy.
This session will feature a short video from a participating Indigenous community, an overview of lessons learned to date, and information on how Fire with Fire is developing capacity, processes, methodologies and tools to enable the best available Indigenous and scientific knowledge for climate change adaptation decisions at local, regional and provincial scales. Disasters, such as wildfires, can also be a hook for a larger conversation about climate change adaptation, which is being demonstrated through the initiative.
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 (CS6-AI) Exploring the Gender Dimensions of Adaptation: Sharing Insights from Canadian and International Research (Workshop) posted on 10:42 AM, November 16, 2019
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Moderator: Cameron Hunter
Presenters: Amber Fletcher, Maureen Reed and Angie Dazé
The impacts of climate change will affect people in different ways, depending on their location and how they sustain their livelihoods, as well as a range of other factors including gender, class and ethnicity. If these issues are not considered in planning and decision-making, there is a risk that adaptation investments will be ineffective, particularly in reaching the most vulnerable communities and groups.
This session will draw on empirical research and practical experience in Canada and Sub-Saharan Africa to explore how gender and other social factors influence experiences of climate change and capacity to adapt. Three panelists will share insights from ongoing research on gender and climate change adaptation, including the intersectionality of gender with other sociocultural characteristics. The presentations will be followed by an interactive dialogue, where participants will discuss common themes and what can be learned from these examples to inform gender-responsive approaches to adaptation going forward.
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 (CS6-HE) Health and Equity in a Changing Climate: Understanding Vulnerability to the Health Impacts of Climate Change (Workshop) posted on 10:46 AM, November 16, 2019
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Presenters: Kerri Klein (moderator), Rebekka Schnitter, Dr. Chris Buse, Dr. Paivi Abernathy and Denni Clement
Climate change will affect all of us, but some communities and populations are at greater risk of experiencing health impacts from a changing climate. We know that our social and physical environments matter in determining our exposure to risk, but also our ability to respond and build resilience. Factors such as housing, income, social support networks and community capacity all affect our ability to respond and adapt to climate change.
This interactive workshop will explore what health equity means in the face of climate change and consider approaches that can inform adaptation actions which can reduce negative health impacts and increase local resilience.
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 (CS6-YO) Identifying Supports to Youth Climate Action through Social Innovation and Creative Action (Oral presentation) posted on 10:50 AM, November 16, 2019
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Presenters: Nigel Deans, Robin Cox and Kiana Alexander
In this youth-led session, presenters will share insights drawn from their current research on youth engagement in climate action. Young people are among the groups that are and will continue to be most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. They are also in a uniquely strong position to imagine and co-create the resilient communities of the future and have demonstrated their intention to do so through unprecedented global climate actions.
This session will feature activities designed to highlight young people’s understandings of the barriers and supports to their meaningful engagement in shaping climate policy and their suggestions for enhancing meaningful collaboration between youth and adults. Presenters will engage with audience members in a dialogue to explore current and potential youth-led climate adaptation projects, with an invitation to join a growing network of youth and adults working in partnership to address the root causes of climate change vulnerability.
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3:30 pm |
4:00 pm |
Refreshment Break |
4:00 pm |
5:30 pm |
Concurrent sessions 7
 (CS7-FR) Changing Climate, Changing Finance: Tools and Approaches for Financing Resilience (Workshop) posted on 1:44 PM, August 15, 2019
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Presenters: Jessica Shoubridge (moderator), Graham Watt, Paul Kovacs and Ujala Qadir
In a world that is changing at an unprecedented rate, how are new financial arrangements being made and new funding mechanisms being deployed to meet the demands of the rapid transition to a low-carbon, resilient world? This interactive session will explore the resilience funding and finance landscape from the local to the global, featuring contributors from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Get inspired by those who are innovating in this space and be a part of the growing momentum in green and sustainable finance!
This session will utilize interactive polling, Ignite-style talks and other interactive methods to ensure that the audience is included as active participants. The input from the session will also inform the next iteration of the Understanding Risk (UR+) Symposium to be held in the spring (2020) in Vancouver. The session is moderated by Jessica Shoubridge, a planner with 10 years’ experience working to build resilience in Southwestern BC.
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 (CS7-SS) Adapting to Changing Permafrost and Sea-ice Conditions in Canada’s North (Oral presentations) posted on 1:43 PM, August 15, 2019
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Moderator: Jim Vanderwal
TOONIKTOYOK: Inuit-led Research on Climate Change Risks and Hunting Costs
Presenters: Angus Naylor, David Fawcett and Adam Kuptana
The goal of the TOONIKTOYOK project is to develop a dynamic understanding of how changing climatic conditions are affecting subsistence hunting and adaptation options among Inuit in Ulukhaktok, NT. Using a novel participatory-GIS methodology, the project equips 10 active Inuit hunters with GPS units, which are carried throughout the course of the year to record real-time land use data. This data is supplemented through the cohort’s participation in bi-weekly semi-structured group interviews, convened by a local Inuit project-coordinator, and with questions informed by project objectives, which capture additional information on stressors affecting subsistence practices and challenges to adaptive capacity. This oral presentation will highlight the importance of community-led monitoring initiatives to combat and better understand the effects of climate change, discuss the application of participatory-GIS methods for climate change adaptation, and describe the ways through which Inuit are affected by and respond to climate change.
Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk – the Acceleration of Coastal Change
Presenters: Thomas James and Shawn Stuckey
Over the last few decades, the rate of coastal change in some parts of the Arctic — in particular the Beaufort Sea — has accelerated due to declining sea ice, warming temperatures, increased wave action and storm surges. No other community is more vulnerable to the acceleration of climate-driven change than the community of Tuktoyakuk (pop. 950). The residents of the coastal community of Tuktoyaktuk, located within the Inuvialuit Settlement Region, are all too aware of this rapid erosion, coastal flooding and land subsidence from permafrost thaw. Erosion rates have increased by 27% in the past two decades, and it is clear that current shore protection measures are not working and able to withstand the increased climate-forcing events that continue to plague the community during the open water season. The rapidly increasing burden of coastal erosion facing this community necessitates urgent mitigation.
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 (CS7-ER) From North to South: Climate Change Implications for Fisheries posted on 5:01 PM, November 16, 2019
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Moderator: Bob Purdy
Co-producing Solutions to the Impacts of Climate Change on Canada’s Undersea Forests
Presenter: Danielle Denley
Climate change is threatening food security for coastal communities world-wide. On the central coast of BC, First Nations communities rely heavily on kelp forests for commercial, food, social and ceremonial purposes. This talk highlights how co-production of research can facilitate relevant solutions that are directly available for local decision-makers to integrate into regional management plans, first by summarizing previous results revealing strong temperature effects on kelp recovery post-harvest on the Central Coast, and second by introducing recent research co-produced with the Central Coast Indigenous Resource Alliance to determine whether adaptive management of traditional community-based kelp harvest can minimize the negative impact of temperature-induced bryozoan outbreaks on kelp.
Both examples use co-developed methodologies based on traditional kelp harvest and related fisheries, increasing the likelihood that First Nations communities will continue to adaptively manage kelp forests to increase the resilience of both kelp forest ecosystems and coastal communities to climate change.
SmartICE: Supporting Sustainable Winter Fisheries for Nunavut Communities under Changing Climate
Presenters: Trevor Bell
Across Nunavut, community-based fisheries are improving food security, providing employment and increasing the socio-economic well-being of Nunavummiut. The Government of Nunavut has a long-term goal to establish a self-supporting, inshore fishery, and to this end, several industry groups have invested in the development of a winter fishing industry in Baffin Island communities.
Climate change and its impacts on sea-ice conditions, however, represent increasing risk to fisher safety, industry investment in the winter fishery and the realization of the Government of Nunavut’s economic development goals. Our partnership between the hamlets of Pangnirtung and Qikiqtarjuaq, SmartICE (smartice.org) and Nunavut Fisheries Association is supporting a climate-adapted fishery by providing important information on landfast sea-ice thickness and travel hazards in near real-time. We are working closely with fishers to identify and address their specific ice information needs and develop technology solutions to complement their Inuit knowledge.
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 (CS7-PP) Assessing Climate Risk in the Transportation Sector (Oral presentations) posted on 5:18 PM, November 16, 2019
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Moderator: Patrick Breuer
Climate Risk Assessments for Transportation Assets: Lessons Learned and Recommended Practices
Presenter: Donavan Jacobsen
Transport Canada’s five-year Transportation Assets Risk Assessment (TARA) initiative funds the assessment of climate risk for federal transportation assets. Since launch of the initiative in 2017, $6M in project funding has been approved for climate risk assessment and instrumentation projects for airports, highways, bridges and ferry terminals, as well as research projects that seek to identify and address gaps and barriers to assessing climate risk.
Through TARA initiative implementation, Transport Canada has delivered and advised on numerous climate risk assessment contracts, climate data and impact analyses, and climate risk assessment workshops, resulting in an early list of lessons learned relating to climate risk assessments for transportation assets. These lessons focus on how to select the appropriate tool for the assessment, what decisions need to be made at the outset of a project, and how to structure your work to get a product that can be used for decision-making.
Integrating Climate Risk Knowledge into Practice at the Maryland Department of Transportation
Presenter: Susan Asam and Cassandra Bhat
This presentation will focus on a suite of practical strategies that the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA) is taking to ensure that individuals across the organization are taking account of potential climate change risks in their decision-making. For example, MDOT SHA is developing and distributing a centralized online viewer to share asset risk data; conducting trainings with internal and external partners on how to access, interpret and use the data; integrating future flood frequencies into pavement performance modelling; screening for climate risks in project planning and design processes; and more. The presentation will focus on lessons learned and best practices emerging from this experience, such as how to structure and present risk assessment results to facilitate uptake, engaging a wide variety of staff, and achieving organizational change.
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 (CS7-RA) Arts, Games, and Creative Insights into Community Engagement (Oral presentations posted on 5:28 PM, November 16, 2019
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Moderator: Michael Stanyer
Engagement and Games: Serious Gaming for Climate Adaptation
Presenters: Heather Murdock and Dr. Evalyna Bogdan
Flood adaptation is a significant challenge in Canada and around the world. Local communities aiming to build greater resilience to flooding often grapple with balancing competing interests and deciding which trade-offs are tolerable. It has been shown that “serious games” can be an effective tool to facilitate learning and collective decision-making. These tools involve gamification methods applied to serious topics. A growing body of research shows that the gamification of complex socio-environmental problems can create safe spaces for stakeholders to explore diverse views and interests in a low-pressure environment.
This presentation will showcase how a flood adaptation practitioner and a researcher teamed up to develop a serious game for flood governance in Canada – the Flood Resilience Challenge. An evaluation of the pilot test and the implication of these findings will be presented for the application of the Flood Resilience Challenge in communities across Canada.
Enhancing Public Awareness through the Arts in Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Adaptation
Presenter: Sylvia Borda
In considering the conditions required for a resilient and sustainable future we need to repurpose, reinvent, remake and rethink how our human-impacted planet can better work with the environment and function synergistically with it. In this talk on what's next in civic and rural development, artist Sylvia Grace Borda illustrates how the arts sector can help align us more closely with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While Canada was one of 193 nations that pledged to adopt the SDGs in 2015, it has been slow in developing a strategy for implementing the goals nationally. This interactive presentation highlights how we can champion SDG targets by demonstrating ways in which the arts can support tackling climate change. In particular the talk provides actionable insights of how our civic spaces can become examples of climate adaptive and eco-cultural spaces for public awareness and custodianship.
Sylvia's presentation is relevant to those whose daily work impacts Nature, including architects, engineers, landscape architects, planners and policy makers, by demonstrating how the arts can help us build and achieve a more sustainable world.
Communicating about Climate Change in the Canadian Provincial North: Insights into Promoting Community Engagement
Presenter: Maya Gislason
Communities in the Canadian Provincial North (CPN) are particularly vulnerable to climate change. However, limited research addresses the unique challenges, impacts and possibilities around effectively communicating climate change in these regions. Further, climate change communication research focuses primarily on urban realities, and when applied to the CPN, these best practices may alienate, isolate or even polarize local climate change research and community engagement efforts led by local champions. In this presentation, we share findings from in-depth interviews with local changemakers across Northern British Columbia and Ontario, and a survey of two urban communities in the CPN. With a focus on place, local vulnerabilities and the role of industry as a major economic driver, this presentation considers the nature of rural and remote communities, and how living at the epicenter of struggles between environmental and economic sustainability contours the challenges of communicating about climate change in these regions.
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 (CS7-AI) Including Social Equity in Adaptation Action (Workshop) posted on 5:33 PM, November 16, 2019
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Presenters: Ericha Moores (moderator), Kyla Milne, Sara Holzman and Rebekka Schnitter
Climate change has disproportionate and differential impact on the most vulnerable. Understanding the social contexts and roots causes of vulnerability are integral components of designing and implementing adaptation solutions that are effective, culturally sensitive and sustainable. Vulnerability and social equity are closely related concepts and, whilst there is theoretical understanding of this relationship, there is limited knowledge on how to integrate this into adaptation practice.
This session, composed of a panel with representatives from Natural Resources Canada, Health Canada, Government of Nunavut and Government of Nova Scotia, will provide practical examples of how different organizations are considering social equity in adaptation planning and implementation and the need for empowered approaches. Following the panel, there will be a workshop component that will further explore the integration of social equity and climate adaptation.
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 (CS7-HE) Navigating Climate Grief: The Conversation That Is Needed Now (Workshop) posted on 5:34 PM, November 16, 2019
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Presenters: Erica Crawford, Olive Dempsey, Kari Tyler, Stephen Tyler, Trevor Murdock and Amanda Broad
Adaptation professionals who understand the wicked problem of climate change are trained to focus on the needs of communities and the supports that enable them to adapt and respond to climate change. At the same time that we need to develop skills to support the mental and emotional well-being of those for whom we work (e.g., www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/03/climate-mental-health), this work can also take an emotional and psychological toll on practitioners themselves.
This session will provide a framework and resources to make sense of the emotional landscape of adapting to climate change, engaging participants through experiential learning processes. Presentations will be in the form of role play and demonstration, and will be followed by small group work. This session will offer professionals the space to practise and reflect on skills for their own personal resilience, and leave them with practices and resources that can be applied to their work and collaborations with others.
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 (CS7-YO) Steering the Mentorship: The Why and How of Youth Engagement for Climate Action (Workshop) posted on 5:39 PM, November 16, 2019
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Moderator: Cherry Tam
Presenters: Marina Melanidis and Caroline Merner
Youth may be the group that has contributed the least to the climate crisis, yet they are among the greatest impacted. It is critical that young people are meaningfully engaged in climate action, including adaptation. This workshop will expand on youth engagement methods, share best practices, and provide an opportunity to experience a youth engagement model. In the first half of the workshop, Climate Guides will share stories and best practices of working with young people and show how mentorship can be a meaningful engagement tool. The second half of the workshop will be a “Speed Mentoring” session, where several climate leaders (mentors) will lead their own roundtables that participants (mentees) can visit. The intended audience includes youth and older professionals alike, aiming to both build skills among professionals in engaging youth and allow youth an opportunity to connect with professionals and build their network.
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5:30 pm |
6:30 pm |
Poster Session |
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* Included in registration. |