Presenters: Matt Osler, Harley Chappell, Tjasa Demsar, Annie Geoffrey, Carla Stewart, Erin Desautels and Guillaume Cote

Description to Come

Sea Level Rise Doesn’t Stop at Municipal Boundaries: Collaborative, Multi-sectoral Adaptation Planning on Vancouver’s North Shore

Presenter: Amir Taleghani

Sea level rise is a significant concern for the North Shore area of BC’s Lower Mainland region, which is home to over 180,000 people, the Port of Vancouver, and vast natural and cultural assets. As a local "first" for sea level rise adaptation, three municipalities, the Port of Vancouver and the Squamish Nation have partnered to develop the North Shore Sea Level Rise Risk Assessment and Adaptive Management Strategy. The project supports the development of a coordinated adaptation strategy informed by assessing sea level rise risk and developing adaptation measures to manage risk across six sectors: building and infrastructure, transportation, economy, environment, social, and culture and heritage.

This presentation, by the project consultant team from Kerr Wood Leidal (KWL), will share out on the approach, results, and lessons learned through the project.

The University of British Columbia’s Living Breakwaters Project: A Multi-layered Approach to Coastal Adaptation

Presenter: Kees Lokman

Description to come

Walled Off: Reimagining the Stanley Park Coastline

Presenter: Ali Canning

Description to come

Presenters: Deborah Harford, DG Blair, Patrick Lilley, Josephine Clark and Roy Brooke

Biodiversity loss is a crisis emerging in parallel with climate change; meanwhile, urban and developed areas are largely considered dead zones for connectivity planning. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) recommends that urban areas deploy nature-based solutions, and green infrastructure is increasingly becoming an important low carbon resilience solution to flood and heat management. How might we deploy these nature-based solutions on larger scales to benefit biodiversity through interdisciplinary collaboration among municipalities, stewardship groups, all levels of government and the disciplines of engineering, accounting, planning, environment and development?

This panel session introduces regional-scale approaches that align with emerging green infrastructure and biodiversity protection measures, such as natural assets, climate connectivity and refugia, and watershed-based stormwater management. Participants will be invited to consider how these approaches might work (or not work) in their contexts and envision pathways to solutions using group-based activities and discussion.

Presenters: Mary Ann Wilson, Robin Cox, Catherine Leblanc, Susannah Banks, Al Douglas and Jane Welsh

Practitioners play an integral role in addressing risks from climate change, but what does adaptation mean in practice? This session, moderated by Natural Resources Canada, will feature projects supported through the Building Regional Adaptation Capacity and Expertise (BRACE) program. Five panelists will share perspectives and experiences on building adaptation capacity amongst the planning, engineering, forestry and architecture professions, as well as explore approaches for working across areas of practice.

They will present the range of adaptation tools and training they are delivering for practitioners and then dive deeper through focused breakout group discussions. This session will explore questions such as:

1. What capacity exists currently when it comes to understanding and applying adaptation in practice?
2. What is needed to move the yardstick further on the practical side of adaptation?
3. What are benefits and challenges of building targeted capacity within a given area of practice versus working across professions?

Presenter: Amanda Broad

Description to come

Introduction to the Coastal Vulnerability Studies and Climate Adaptation Program

Presenter: Brent Baron

Indigenous Services Canada is working on a Coastal Vulnerability program for the First Nation communities for the West Coast with a step-by-step analysis of each of the 60 communities, assessing the hazards, identifying the communities exposure and working on reducing the communities' vulnerability to coastal events through a climate adaptation process. The level of effort includes community discussions, on-site investigations, LiDAR data collection, modelling, result assessments and annual workshops to create a dialogue, understanding and learning, through an engagement, empowerment and enhancement process.

Coastal Vulnerability Study Community Context – Old Massett

Presenter: Patrika McEvoy

Description to come

Coastal Vulnerability Study Community Context – Nisga’a Village of Laxgalt’sap

Presenter: Andrew Robinson

Description to come

Presenters: Kathleen McLean, Kerri Klein and Tamsin Mills

About this Session

Canadians are experiencing more frequent and extreme heat events. Climate change models predict that by 2050, very hot days (above 30°C) may occur across Canada four times as frequently as they do today. Climate impacts like extreme heat and poor air quality from wildfires will exacerbate existing inequities, and those that are most vulnerable will be at greater risk.

This session will highlight the work of several sectors in BC to build resilience for these populations. The session will feature an overview of the health risks of extreme hot weather and air pollution by the BC Centre for Disease Control and presentations by BC Housing and the City of Vancouver on response plans that specifically target the needs of vulnerable populations. With facilitation by Shift Collaborative, this session will encourage sharing climate response and adaptation knowledge, practices and resources in a way that builds resilience for all, including vulnerable populations.

Presenters: Cherry Tam, George Benson, Veronika Bylicki and Harvy Takhar

Youth are inheriting and adapting to a world that is changing at an unprecedented rate. Including youth in decision-making and in addressing adaptation is crucial for society to build resilience. This session will amplify the stories of young leaders and their perspectives on resilience, and also help enable practitioners and decision-makers to more meaningfully engage youth in their work.

The session, moderated by CityHive, will feature a panel of three BC youth and one decision-maker who will share their stories. CityHive will also share some of their best practices when it comes to engaging youth holistically to address various social and environmental challenges. The session will build off of the "My Climate Story" Project, an online story map platform of the Fraser Basin Council for youth in BC to share their diverse perspectives on how climate change affects them and their communities.

Assessing Climate Risks at the Provincial Scale – The BC Example

Presenter: Johanna Wolf

Description to come

The Costs and Benefits of Climate Impacts and Adaptation in Canada: Demonstrating the Business Case for Resilience

Presenter: Richard Boyd

Description to come

Freedom Space for Rivers: An Economical Approach to Sustainable Management in a Changing Climate

Presenter: Joanna Eyquem

Globally, there has been movement towards more sustainable river management, based on the concept of working with natural processes. This includes giving appropriate space to rivers in urban and infrastructure design, so that natural flooding and erosion can occur, and associated ecosystem services can function. This approach, termed the "Freedom Space approach" in Quebec is in contrast to reactive, localized interventions, which have often served to temporarily displace problems rather than providing long-term solutions.

In this presentation, Joanna Eyquem will outline techniques being used to define the function space required by rivers. This includes use of LiDAR and hydrogeomorphological interpretation to identify fluvial risks, as well as consideration of riparian wetlands. Cost-benefit analysis undertaken for three case studies in Quebec will demonstrate the overall benefit to society of adopting this approach, taking into account the benefits of ecosystem services that are likely to increase watershed resilience to climate change impacts.

Adaptation to Flooding in Mi’kma’ki

Presenters: Alex Cadel and Cheyenne MacDonald

First Nations communities are commonly recognized as being among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Many communities already routinely deal with overland flooding, storm surge and erosion, and these impacts will be further exacerbated in a changing climate due to altered precipitation patterns and sea level rise.

This presentation will discuss how the Climate Action team at the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq has worked with eight Mi’kmaw communities to conduct climate vulnerability assessments, create digital elevation models to examine different flooding scenarios, and develop adaptation strategies to address priority issues. This will include an example of how flood hazard information was used to help band leadership make land use planning decisions for a new school, along with planned coastal monitoring and restoration activities. Presenters will also examine how the Mi’kmaw concepts of Netukulimk and Two-Eyed Seeing drive projects.

Dawson Creek Flood Mitigation: The Shift to Informed Decision-Making

Presenter: Chelsea Mottishaw

Each flood event creates unique opportunities as well as impacts and challenges. In the last decade, the City of Dawson Creek has experienced two large floods which resulted in considerable impacts to infrastructure, residents and the environment. With support from grant funding, the City of Dawson Creek has now committed to an integrated flood management approach, shifting from a reactionary response to flooding to informed decision-making.

This oral presentation will provide an overview of the City’s journey to building resiliency to flood risk through structural and non-structural investments. Achieving effective flood risk reduction requires a holistic watershed approach where staff, emergency management and academic research come together to inform policy and investments.

Kikawinaw Askiy: Source Water Protection Planning at Okanese First Nation, Treaty 4, Saskatchewan

Presenter: Cade Tuckanow Star and Dr. Robert Patrick

Description to come

Collaborative Drought Planning in the Semi-arid Okanagan Region

Presenters: Kellie Garcia and Nelson Jatel

Climate change presents a fundamental long-term challenge to water sustainability in the semi-arid Okanagan region. Within the last decade, the Okanagan has experienced high elevation snowmelt occurring earlier than usual (as early as March), record high water flows in spring, record low flows in summer and fall, and extreme and prolonged summer heat events. With many public water systems, a growing population and a chain of valley lakes that connect us all, successful climate change adaptation in the Okanagan depends on collaboration.

The Okanagan Basin Water Board helps communities work together to become more resilient and bring consistent and cooperative responses to climate change. In this session, two speakers will share case studies, including a project to develop environmental flow need values for Okanagan streams, best practices, challenges and opportunities associated with collaborative drought planning. Live polls will be used to gather audience input, facilitate discussion, and broaden learning opportunities.

Adapting to a Changing Climate – Developing Resilient Infrastructure Design Parameters for the City of Courtenay

Presenters: Lisa Butler and Jody Rechenmacher

Local governments need to make decisions about how and when they will adapt their infrastructure to acute shocks (e.g., extreme weather events, security threats) and chronic stresses (e.g., aging infrastructure, aging populations). However, the potential adaptations required are expensive, and it can be difficult for municipalities to prioritize building this resilience in the face of competing municipal priorities — especially if budgets aren't available to do detailed analysis. The City of Courtenay, Urban Systems Limited and the University of Waterloo are collaborating to develop and apply a process for making decisions to help small to mid-sized local governments begin to revise key infrastructure design parameters in response to changing climate — with an initial focus on sea level rise. This two-speaker oral presentation will provide an overview of the process and lessons learned from the application at the City of Courtenay.

The First Nations Infrastructure Resilience Toolkit: Integrating Climate Risks into Asset Management

Presenters: Guy Felio and Elmer Lickers

Description to come

Building System-Wide Resilience and Capacity: Lessons Learned from a Flood Resilience Assessment in Ontario

Presenter: Glenn Milner

As the need to move from adaptation planning to implementation continues to increase, it is crucial that decision-makers consider innovative ways to incorporate vulnerable populations and social resilience factors into setting priorities and assessing risk. To meet this need, traditional infrastructure risk assessments are evolving in scope and scale to consider the communities and people that rely upon them. Based on a case study conducted in the Province of Ontario, this presentation will identify an approach and lessons learned from assessing flood resilience in an innovative way across a portfolio of buildings. An emphasis will be placed on how staff capacity to respond helped to inform the level of resilience, and how outputs can be tailor-made to be more valuable in decision-making.

Presenters: David Reid, Chris Osborne, Don Crockett and Grant Lamont

Description to come

Climate Change Induced Vulnerability of Lobster Fishing Communities

Presenter: Kiyomi Ferguson

Climate change related effects on fisheries will undoubtedly have socio-economic impacts on coastal communities. However, integrating climate change information in a form that can be used efficiently by adaptation planners/policy makers/fishery managers remains a challenge. This presentation outlines how ocean climate models that provided mid-century projections of temperature were used to predict changes in lobster distribution in Nova Scotia, Canada. Vulnerability indices (socio-economics, infrastructure, environment, and the likely response of lobster to warming), were then integrated at the scale at which fishery decisions are made in this region (fishery management units), to provide assessments of climate change related vulnerabilities to coastal communities. Because adaptation planning is very important for long-term sustainability, the proximate goal is to make outputs available online as a tool to help fishery managers take a geographical perspective to adaptation planning, and to anticipate changes in productivity and abundance across borders of neighbouring communities.

Collaborative Research in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Western Canadian Arctic): Building the Evidence-base for an Inuit Food Security Strategy

Presenters: Jullian MacLean, Tiff-Annie Kenny and Sonia Wesche

Description to come

Presenters: Elizabeth Esquega and Lindsay Galway

The overarching goal of the project entitled "Climate Change & Health in Fort William First Nation: Planning for the Future, Today" is to build capacity for planning and implementing adaptation measures that protect and promote the physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental health of Fort William First Nation (FWFN) community members.  To this end, we are developing a guiding framework based on the Medicine Wheel, conducting community workshops, gathering stories and Traditional Knowledge from community members in relation to climate change and health, and implementing a photovoice project with youth. The project builds on emerging relationships between FWFN, Lakehead University and community organizations in the Thunder Bay Region. Working together and strengthening these relationships is a critical step towards building capacity for developing and implementing adaptation measures that protect and promote health in the context of changing climate.

This oral presentation will describe and present preliminary findings and learnings from the project.

About this Session

Presenters: Steve Litke and David Roulston

Under climate change, major floods are expected to increase in magnitude and frequency across Canada. Whether it is sea level rise, higher peak flows on rivers, or an increase in rainfall, flood planning and decision-making at all scales must account for changing flood hazards. This session will explore how climate change impacts are being integrated into flood management plans and strategies in British Columbia at three scales: local, regional and provincial. Case examples include a local initiative, the Lower Mainland Flood Management Strategy, and work being done to inform provincial flood strategies across BC.

Presenters will explore the challenges and opportunities with integrating climate change in flood planning, focusing on coastal and riverine flood hazards. What climate change guidance is available? What climate change scenarios should be used? How adaptable are different flood risk reduction measures? What timelines are appropriate for policy changes? Afterwards, participants will exchange insights and experiences in a World Café-style discussion session.

Presenters: Dina Georgious, Lloyd Lee, Paul Shorthouse and David MacLeod

Description to come

Costing Climate Change Adaptation

Presenter: Lisa Westerhoff

Description to come

Building Adaptive, Resilient Housing: Lessons from the Field

Presenters: Remi Charron, Lisa Westerhoff, Marc Haberli, Dan Sandink and Malamarie Sinha

While building resilience in the event of natural disasters and changing climate has improved over the past decades, a need remains to help develop housing stock that can adapt to — not just survive — ever-changing conditions.

To that end, BC Housing is spearheading a multi-year, multi-stakeholder initiative to develop and promote the adoption of best practices in adaptation and resilience. Mobilizing Building Adaptation and Resilience (MBAR) aims to stabilize communities in a natural disaster and help owners and occupants better protect their investments and adapt to climate change stresses and shocks, such that no one is stressed beyond their ability to cope. Using housing and mixed-use projects in BC as pilots, MBAR helps project principals incorporate best practices into the design process and understand the challenges and opportunities of doing so.

Climate Change and Urban Greenspace: Forecasting Change, Planning for Adaptation, and Managing Disturbance Risk

Presenters: Amelia Needoba and Edward Nichol

Urban forests in and around cities are vulnerable to changing climate and extreme weather but they are also an important part of the climate change solution. This session will feature a presentation on how to plan for climate adaptation in urban forestry. Using Metro Vancouver’s award winning Urban Forest Climate Adaptation Initiative as the case study, speakers from Diamond Head Consulting and Metro Vancouver will cover the climate data analysis, adaptation actions and implementation steps for growing resilient urban forests that will help adapt communities to climate change. The speakers will also share how this type of work is being applied in other parts of Canada and how it is informing related climate adaptation planning work in the region.

How are natural forests in and around cities supporting climate change adaptation? A social-ecological analysis along an urban-rural gradient in Metro Vancouver, Canada

Presenter: Dr. Tahia Devisscher

Managing urban landscapes is one of the greatest challenges of this century. The state of urban ecosystems and the well-being of city dwellers will greatly depend on the way cities prepare for rapid change in the next decade. Urban forests have an important role to play in this regard, yet little has been done to measure the effects of urbanization on the multiple, essential ecosystem services these forests provide for urban resilience. This presentation will focus on research conducted along an urban-rural gradient in the City of Maple Ridge, Canada, which is facing very rapid densification and expansion into surrounding forests. Results provide insights into synergies and trade-offs between different actual and perceived ecosystem services and risks associated to urban forest fragments. This will generate practical recommendations into ways in which ecosystem services could be enhanced while maintaining features considered of high social value for climate adaptation and human well-being.

Presenters: Anne Blondlot, Emily MacNair and Sarah Delisle

Climate change impacts will continue and intensify in the future, creating both opportunities and challenges for the Canadian agricultural sector. In order to achieve innovative and successful adaptation, it is crucial to increase awareness and to engage agricultural stakeholders while taking into account the realities and dynamics of agricultural operations.

During this session, moderated by AAFC and Ouranos, three speakers from British Columbia, Quebec and Nova Scotia, will present how they foster collaboration between a wide range of stakeholders (e.g., farmers, crop advisors, local, provincial and federal government, private sector) and build their adaptive capacity, and how this leads to concrete actions on adaptation. During a panel discussion that will follow the three presentations, the speakers as well as the audience will be invited to share experiences, insights and lessons learned about engaging various stakeholders in planning and implanting actions on adaptation.

Tsleil-Waututh Nation’s Community Climate Change Resiliency Planning – Vulnerability Assessment

Presenter: Patrick Lilley

Description to come

Files Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council Climate Adaptation Strategy

Presenters: Chief Matthew Todd Peigan

FHQTC represents 11 First Nation communities and 17,000 citizens in the Treaty Four region of southern Saskatchewan. FHQTC’s mandate is to promote and protect Aboriginal, Inherent and Treaty Rights of all member First Nations while respecting the priorities of First Nations' culture.

In Treaty Four Territory, scientific data suggest that climate change brings shorter winters, water scarcity and drought. These changes threaten the water supply and ecosystems on which subsistence and traditional activities depend. FHQTC completed 12 engagement sessions within FHQTC Nations regarding climate change and adaptation priorities. Four themes emerged from these sessions: 1) impacts of land use and climate change on water quality and availability, 2) impacts of farming practices, 3) changes in the distribution and abundance of animals, and 4) economic opportunities stemming from renewable energy. Chief Matthew Todd Peigan, from Pasqua First Nation, will discuss these themes and present resilience and adaptation strategies to help overcome the challenges of climate change.

Ahead of the Curve: Leading the Way in Indigenous Community Resiliency

Presenters: Chief Patrick Michell and Aaron Coelho

Kanaka Bar membership and our local area residents have observed changes in precipitation patterns, air temperature and ecosystems and it’s becoming disconcerting. In order to prepare for further changes, in 2018 Kanaka Bar completed a climate change vulnerability assessment and adaptation strategy. This session will share the story of how one rural BC community is preparing for climate change through implementation of strategies to improve community resilience. This session will feature Chief Patrick Michell from the Kanaka Bar Indian Band and Aaron Coelho, Climate Change and Water Resources Specialist from Urban Systems Ltd. Together, Chief Patrick and Aaron will share Kanaka Bar’s approach to climate change preparedness including the value of combining traditional knowledge with science and empirical data, implementation of self-sufficiency initiatives and the importance of youth engagement. If Kanaka Bar can do it, you can too. Leave inspired to take action in your own community.

Presenter: Dr. Sabine Dietz

Small, rural communities (population less than 15,000) face opportunities as well as challenges when faced with climate change impacts. They are often less nimble and less daring, have overall less power in the policy and legislative arena, and face public pressure that can easily swing decisions.

This workshop, moderated by Aster Group Environmental Services Co-op, will explore the various themes and players that surround adaptation decision-making in small communities. With the help of representatives from small communities, the session examines how governance framework shapes how innovative communities can or cannot be; the role of leadership and how it advances or blocks adaptation; the role of education and communication about climate change and adaptation when it comes to local decision-making and who should do it; and how small communities often make decisions by taking the path of least resistance.

Presenters: Dr. Ian Mauro and Jade Savage

Description to come.

Nuna Tariuq Silalu Film Project

Presenters: Eriel Lugt and Darryl Tedjuk

Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, is a community on the Arctic coastline that is being impacted by climate change on a number of levels, through erosion, ice, weather and wildlife migration patterns, to name a few. Many adaptation initiatives related to climate change are taking place, such as the need to relocate homes due to an eroding shoreline. These projects are significant changes for a small community and it is important to document this point in history and show others how we are adapting to the changing circumstances.

This two-year project aims to engage the community and us, the youth of Tuktoyaktuk, in the climate change adaptation process by documenting perceptions and solutions from the community and sharing them across the region, the country and beyond, using digital media. This presentation will showcase the documentary "Happening to Us," produced by our group of youth during the film workshop in June 2019 and showcased at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid, Spain last December 2019. There will be opportunity for questions after the movie.

Pangnirtung Youth Tackle Climate Change: On-the-land knowledge exchange, monitoring, and filmmaking promoting adaptation and well-being

Presenters: Natalie Baird, Maggie Lucy Kilabuk and Vincent L'Hérault

The coastal community of Pangnirtung, Nunavut has long witnessed and experienced the reality of climate change. Country food is the main resource for Panniqtuumiut all year round and practices related to hunting and fishing are key to family and community well-being. Local organizations and community members contribute to numerous academic studies and endeavours devoted to climate change. However, there is a disconnect between what is currently known, and what the younger generation know as youth don’t always have many opportunities to hear from these knowledgeable people about the scale and implications of these changes.

Through an on-the-land program for youth bringing together elders, knowledgeable hunters, scientists, and filmmakers, this project aims to learn from Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuit holistic system of knowledge & beliefs) and scientific monitoring to better understand changes to the environment and wildlife related to climate change, and share the knowledge through short films and visual arts.

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.

Moderators: Jacinthe Clavet-Gaumont and Isabelle Charron

Presenters: Frédéric Vigeant and Maureen Daschuk

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.

Purple Roofs: How much better does a "purple" roof perform to reduce heating/cooling loads and manage storm water?

Presenter: Harvy Takhar

Description to come

Adaptation through Amphibiation

Presenter: Elizabeth English

Description to come

Presenters: Sean Capstick, Rachel Wyles, Charles Dumaresq and Marc Butler

Description to come

Presenters: Dinah Tambalo, Jo-Ellen Parry and Elaine Fox

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).

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: Micah Okheena, Gilbert Olifie and Tristan Pearce

Description to come

Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk – the Acceleration of Coastal Change

Presenters: Dustin Whalen 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.

Presenters: Kristie Ebi, Angie Woo and Deborah Harford

Description to come

Presenters: Dr. Ian Picketts and students TBC

Description to come

Presenters: Dr. Ian Picketts and students TBC

Description to come

Presenters: TBC

Description to come.

Presenters: Adam Cheeseman, Dr. Sabine Dietz, Marian Weber and Diana Staley

Natural/nature-based adaptation approaches work with ecosystems and natural processes to increase our resilience to climate change. This adaptation approach is gaining momentum in the Maritimes and other parts of Canada. Some examples include naturalized stormwater ponds, living shorelines, rain gardens, salt marsh restoration, as well as riparian and wetland restoration.

Natural/nature-based adaptation approaches help prepare communities for climate change, but also support the delivery of ecosystem services, such as recreation, carbon sequestration and water quality enhancement. While these approaches offer great value, a number of barriers (e.g., lack of expertise, tools/funding, awareness of ecosystem services) continue to limit widespread adoption in the region.

This session will explore recent successes, barriers, and opportunities for natural/nature-based adaptation in Canada, while reflecting on existing gaps that impede broad-scale implementation. The six-person panel includes professionals from various sectors and regions to offer diverse, cross-cutting perspectives on this important, yet under-utilized, adaptation approach.

Moderators: Elizabeth Nelson and Diana Stralbert

Presenters: Carlos Carroll, Jennifer Grant, Ilona Naujokaitis-Lewis and 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?”

Presenters: Abder Yagouti, 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.

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: Stephen Bann, Melanie Percey and 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

Description to come

Canada’s Research Contributions to Climate Adaptation in the Global South

Presenter: Marie-Eve Landry

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

Description to come

Resisting Pollinator Decline in Mi’kma’ki

Presenter: Peter Steiner

Description to come

Adapting to a Warming Climate: Gardening Opportunities and Strategies in Subarctic Ontario, Canada

Presenters: 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: Tammy Steinwand-Deschambeault and 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.  

Presenters: Devin Naveau, Casey Gabriel, Lilia Yumagulova 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.

Presenters: Devin Causley and Sara Jane O'Neill

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.

Presenters: Ian Mauro, Danny Blair, Laura Cameron, Duane Nicol and Brett Huson

Description to come

Invasion Risk from Vessel Traffic in Marine Protected Areas under Current and Future Climate Conditions

Presenters: 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.

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.

Miser sur L’habileté Collective Naturelle des Autochtones

Presenters: Dany Johnny Chilton and Samuel Castonguay

Les dangers reliés aux changements climatiques se développent rapidement sur le territoire Atikamekw en même temps que le passage d’une vie nomade à une vie principalement sédentaire.

Le Conseil de la Nation a choisi d’aborder ces deux problèmes, en développant une manière traditionnelle de résoudre ces problèmes d’aujourd’hui. Le projet consiste à implanter une approche holistique de description du fonctionnement de la communauté pour que ses membres apprennent collectivement à l’adapter avec agilité aux changements qui les touchent.

Nous désirons développer une capacité collective de lire et d’interpréter les signes de la sociosphère comme celle qui existe pour Notcimik. Ceci afin qu’ils puissent détecter les dangers et les opportunités qu’ils rencontreront. Le premier résultat recherché est de faire apparaître une capacité collective à identifier et comprendre les enjeux de fonctionnement et de développement de leur communauté les plus prioritaires et à découvrir des pistes de solution applicable

Fire with Fire: Braiding Indigenous and Scientific Knowledges of Fire Management using Participatory Video Method to Enhance Climate Change Resilience

Presenters: Laura Lynes, Elliot Fox and Krista Tremblett

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.

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.

Presenters: Kerri Klein, Rebekka Schnitter, Dr. Chris Buse, 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.

Presenter: Jessica Shoubridge

Description to come

Identifying, monitoring and implementing adaptation measures for permafrost degradation in a community outreach perspective in Kugluk Territorial Park, Nunavut

Presenters: Leesee Papatsie and Larry Adjun

Description to come

TOONIKTOYOK: Inuit-led Research on Climate Change Risks and Hunting Costs

Presenters: Angus Naylor and Tristan Pearce

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.

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 and Jenny Mosesie

Description to come

Climate Risk Assessments for Transportation Assets: Lessons Learned and Recommended Practices

Presenter: Donavan Jacobsen

Integrating Climate Risk Knowledge into Practice at the Maryland Department of Transportation

Presenter: Cassandra Bhat

Description to come

Engagement and Games: Serious Gaming for Climate Adaptation

Presenter: Heather Murdock

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

Description to come

Presenters: Ericha Moores, 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.

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.

Presenters: Marina Melanidis and Caroline Merner

Description to come.

Presenter: Jimena Eyzaguirre

Description to come

Presenters: Graham Watt, Dr. Kate Sherren and Frank Frigo

Climate change adaptation has traditionally focused on “holding the line” approaches and the use of structural protective measures to protect communities from the impacts of flooding or coastal erosion. Managed retreat, which refers to any strategic decision to withdraw, relocate or abandon private or public property can be a cost-effective, viable long-term solution, but comes with a unique set of legal, economic, social and psychological challenges.

A panel of three speakers, moderated by Natural Resources Canada, will share their perspectives and experiences on retreat, followed by a discussion with all session participants about enablers, barriers and pathways to an equitable approach to retreat. The goal of the session will be to draw out which practices work and elements to consider when trying to address this challenging question.

Presenters: Benjamin Filewod, Christian Messier and Dave Andison

Climate change impacts a Canadian forest products sector that is changing endogenously due to accumulation and depletion of specific forms of capital and technological progress. Resulting impacts on Canadian competitiveness are relative to the state of other players in global forest products markets, whose situations – notably supply-side exposure to projected warming- are very different. In turn, the economic consequences of Canada’s competitive position will shape the selection and success of sectoral adaptation strategies.

This talk will describe the trajectory and current status of Canada’s evolving forest products sector, including new research on total-value-chain measures of competitiveness in the global economy and the role of forest quality (age/size, location) in competitiveness, and summarize the supply-side vulnerability of Canada and her competitors in global forest products markets. This economic analysis will be linked to strategic options for forest sector adaptation, setting the stage for a detailed exposition of emerging forest management models by Prof. Messier and Dr. Andison.

Presenters: Robin Cox, Kyla Milne, David Lapp and Mary-Ann Wilson

Description to come

Presenters: Kari Tyler, Trevor Murdock, Erica Crawford, Denni Clement and Maya Chorobik

Some of the most common challenges for organizations moving adaptation from an assessment to action are: getting buy-in from diverse subject matter experts, building up a network of supportive peers and winning over the much hoped-for champions in leadership roles. Overcoming these institutional barriers to change and successfully engaging people are essential skills for adaptation practitioners. Data and information rarely change people’s perspectives but authentic connections, supported by good information and resources, can have a big impact.

To engage meaningfully with others, adaptation professionals have to meet them where they are at and work to understand their perspectives and concerns.  This session will build those skills through a series of participatory exercises and small group work. The workshop will include story-telling and activities to demonstrate and experience the practical communications tools that will give professionals the skills to engage in change-making conversations.

Presenter: George Benson

According to recent studies, as many as 340 million people globally may be threatened with displacement due to climate change before 2050. Many of these people displaced will be among Canada's and the world’s most vulnerable populations, and because of Canada’s wealth and relative safety from the most dangerous impacts, we may be called upon to help many of them.

This interactive workshop is focused on building Canadian capacity to help those who are being or will be displaced. It will cover three key topic areas and intended outputs: 1) providing an overview of the current state of climate displacement research and data, 2) taking stock of the current state of displacement work amongst Canadian adaptation professionals, and 3) identifying ways for people interested in or working on climate displacement to connect together and build our shared capacity.

Ka pimthatek pakthehnamoowin / A Journey of Hope in St. Theresa Point First Nation

Presenters: Lewis Archer and Tyrone Munroe

Description to come

Navigating Mental Health Care in a Changing Climate

Presenter: Katie Hayes

In 2013, High River, Alberta experienced a super flood that displaced the entire community. The mental health implications of this event reverberate  five years later. This presentation explores the availability and accessibility of mental health care (both public sector and community-based) before, during and after the flood. It explores how High Riverites, particularly those most marginalized, navigated mental health care before, during, and after the flood until the present day.

Original research findings from an empirical study of the psychosocial consequences of climate change and community-based mental health responses in High River will be presented by the lead researcher of this study. Participants will learn key takeaways, such as the role that mental health and climate change vulnerability and adaptation assessments can play in supporting mental health following climate change-related extreme weather.