Community Climate Change Adaptation Planning
Beate Bowron, Beate Bowron Etcetera
Rory Baksh, Dillon Consulting Limited
Brian Render, Render Planning Services
As part of the Clyde River climate change adaptation project, two volunteer planners from the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) worked with the Hamlet of Clyde River in 2007/08 to develop a community adaptation action plan. Their goals – jointly established with the community – were to raise awareness about the effects of climate change throughout the community, identify specific local issues that need to be addressed, help increase the community’s capacity to deal with these issues and share the resulting information with other communities and organizations.
Photo credits are Beate Bowron, Beate Bowron Etcetera
The resulting Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan includes the following strategies:
- Review the community land use plan to incorporate climate change issues
- Provide equipment and training for residents to increase their safety while out on the land
- Develop a tourism plan to attract visitors, including cruise ships
- Record knowledge and experiences of residents’ changing travel and hunting conditions
- Share information and learn from others at meetings and conferences
- Continue the cooperation with scientists from Natural Resources Canada
Photo credits are Beate Bowron, Beate Bowron Etcetera
Based on these strategies, the Clyde River Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan contains recommendations for specific actions in 25 areas and identifies ways to implement them. The recommendations are grouped by areas of responsibility of the Hamlet, Ittaq, the Hunters and Trappers Association and other organizations.
This document gives the community of Clyde River an initial overview of local climate change issues and possible adaptation actions. It needs to be reviewed and updated regularly to reflect changing local conditions, delete recommendations which are no longer relevant, and add priorities based on current local knowledge and new scientific information.
Together with a plan for Hall Beach, the Clyde River Climate Change Action Plan has been a pilot project for community adaptation planning in Nunavut. This work has spurred additional work in Iqaluit, Arviat, Whale Cove, Cambridge Bay and Kugluktuk.
Results from the planning work, as well as other material on CIP’s climate change initiatives, can be found online at planningforclimatechange.ca (go to “Library” and then to “Community Adaptation Plans”). (Shari – the link for this webpage is www.planningforclimatechange.ca )
Photo credits are Beate Bowron, Beate Bowron Etcetera