Adapting to Climate Change in the Fraser Basin of British Columbia
In April 2007, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) issued a request for proposals for its Climate Change Impact and Adaptation Program. EKOS Communications, Inc., along with a team of partners and advisors, responded by submitting a proposal aimed at enabling effective knowledge transfer between municipal government representatives, scientists and engineers on the issue of adapting water related infrastructure to climate change. To keep the project bounded and more manageable, the geographical scope was set as the Fraser Basin, from headwaters to estuary.
To facilitate this knowledge transfer, the project team is utilizing an innovative blend of information and communication technology (ICT) and group process/community animation techniques. The ICT component draws heavily on the Open Source content management system, Drupal, as well as the integration of multi-media (videos, interactive maps, animated simulations). Additionally, the project site features distillations of key technical documents, such as the Fourth Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): Summary for Policy-Makers.
Participation in the on-line dialogue is by invitation only and the project site is a password protected site to enable participants to carry on candid conversations with each other.
The first phase of the dialogue will occur Mar. 5th - Mar. 26th. A possible phase ll may follow in which the dialogue will be expanded to include provincial government representatives.
Funding Provided by Natural Resources Canada.
Funding for Video Component: Metro Vancouver, Union of BC Municipalities, Ministry of Community Services; and Ministry of Environment.
Project Partners: Emerging Networks, Inc.
Project Advisors: Fraser Basin Council; BC Water and Waste Association; Eric Bonham; Dr. Allan Carroll (Pacific Forest Centre, Canadian Forest Service); Dr. Ann Dale (School of Environment and Sustainability, Royal Roads University); Dr. Ken Denman (Institute of Ocean Sciences, Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada); Dr. Dan Moore (Department of Geography, UBC); Dr. Stephen Sheppard (Faculty of Forestry and Landscape Architecture, UBC); Dr. Robin Sydneysmith (Department of Anthropology and Sociology, UBC); Dr. Ian Walker (Department of Geography, University of Victoria); Dr. Andrew Weaver (School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria) and Dr. Monika Winn (Faculty of Business, University of Victoria)