Creating Resilient Communities: Planning for a Changing Climate

Learn about strategies and risk treatment options that will help you respond to climate change and its impacts.

Communities across Canada are experiencing the impacts of climate change from events such as wildfires, heat waves, floods, and ice storms. The Municipal Climate Change Action Centre, a partnership of Alberta Municipalities, Rural Municipalities of Alberta, and the Government of Alberta, is providing up to $80,000 per project for municipalities and Indigenous communities to invest in climate resilience capacity building as part of its Climate Resilience Capacity Building Program.

Morrison Hershfield has partnered with Shared Value Solutions to present an overview of the Capacity Building Program and the solutions that communities can develop to become more resilient to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather. In addition to exploring the funding application process, we will discuss how to enhance climate literacy, undertake climate-risk assessments, and create climate adaptation plans. Although particularly relevant to communities in Alberta, the solutions to climate change and risk treatment can be applied to all communities wishing to learn more about how to take action.

Watch The Webinar

Presenters:

Joelle Doubrough – Morrison Hershfield

Joelle is a certified Environmental Professional and member in good standing, with 10+ years of diverse work experience in the environmental field. With an Environmental Manager specialization, Joelle leads the integration of knowledge, systems thinking and strategic decision making. Her interdisciplinary work encompasses impact assessment, climate risk and resilience assessments, and cumulative effects assessments for a broad range of infrastructure projects. Joelle is an experienced climate risk analyst who has completed Engineers Canada’s Climate Change Adaptation (PIEVC) Training, the Climate Risk Institute’s Adaptation and Resilience Planning training program for Professional Planners and is a certified ENVISION Sustainability Professional.

Andrew Harkness – Morrison Hershfield

Andrew is a Project Management Professional and ENVISION Sustainability Professional (ENV SP). He has over 30 years experience specializing in managing multi-disciplinary project teams and coordinating stakeholder engagement on a range of complex infrastructure projects. Andrew’s project experience includes Climate Risk and Resilience Assessments including: identifying climate scenarios using a global climate model, assessing historic and future planning horizons, conducting risk assessments, considering climate factor and infrastructure element interactions and developing adaptation recommendations. He oversees greenhouse emissions and carbon footprint lifecycle assessments for transportation, transit, structural and municipal infrastructure.

Steven Rowe – Shared Value Solutions

Steven is a Senior Advisor and Consultant on the Regulatory and Business Development teams at Shared Value Solutions. He brings to the table a strong background in project management that is founded on the good relations and trust he builds with clients, partners, and industry stakeholders. Steven is currently supporting a climate change adaptation and emergency response planning project in Treaty 1 territory in Manitoba. He is dedicated to applying this knowledge to advance positive outcomes for Indigenous communities in their ancestral territories that reflect their unique and distinct needs and aspirations.

Jessica Ward – Shared Value Solutions

Jessica is passionate about harnessing to power of nature-based solutions to address climate change and the global biodiversity crisis. She has overseen the development of best practice guidance to increase the resiliency of natural systems to climate change on behalf of Ontario Conservation Authorities and advised an international team responsible for developing a consultant Nature Based Solutions Toolkit consisting of an Ecosystems Climate Resilience Tool and Climate Smart Planting Palette Tool. She has supported First Nations in Manitoba and Ontario in their climate change adaptation planning, and integrated Indigenous perspectives into PEI’s Climate Change Risk Assessment.