Get Started: Lessons Learned

 

Kimberley community meeting facilitated by Local Coordinator, Ingrid Liepa. October 2008.

 

 

Remember: There is no single approach to developing a community adaptation plan. There are a number of frameworks that have been developed to guide the process of adaptation plan development. Ultimately, the needs of the community, the priorities identified through community engagement, and the best available science, will determine the best approach for a community.

 

 

 

Here are a few tips if you develop your own plan:

  • Establish a local project steering committee to help guide the project. Seek a representative cross-section of key community stakeholders who would like to be part of the project, who can provide advice, and who can help communicate the project to other members of the community.
  • CBT’s experts can give a lot of excellent background and guidance to your process – talk to them.
  • Read about the City of Keene’s process, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Municipal Infrastructure Risk Project, and the Clean Air Partnership’s Cities Preparing for Climate Change: A Study of Six Urban Regions. (See the Resources section of this website for direct links.)
  • Make it clear to all core participants that current climate science does not have all the answers around future local impacts, and that the science is still relatively high level and directional at this stage. Projections are a useful way to transcend this gap.
  • At the beginning of the project, consider the issue of turnover in the local steering committee and with key city staff and discuss a general strategy for dealing with it at the front end.
  • Spend some time at the onset of the project to briefly define and differentiate between greenhouse gas mitigation and planning for climate change adaptation, and note the overlap in terms of adaptation planning that can be antagonistic or synergistic for greenhouse gas reductions.
  • Ensure staff and community “buy-in” to increase the likelihood for recommendations.
  • Focus on relevance to and integration into your OCP.
  • You might want to develop a community advisory committee through the OCP development process. This committee would then engage in CCA plan development when they desire input. 

Elkford's process was consultant-led.  The following are tips for working with volunteers based on this one community's specific experience:

  • Providing opportunities for involvement but not relying on volunteers is important. You have to change your approach depending on the volunteers/community members engaged. Having high expectations for volunteer involvement will most often result in disappointment. Do not force or require involvement from volunteers as the basis of a project. 
  • The expectations around education should be based on it being an outcome not a primary goal. Community members have been keen to learn from this process, but it is a big expectation to develop a CCA strategy and to develop an educational strategy around climate change. That is a lot of work outside of what the CBT is providing for funding. That being said, education is an outcome based on the consultation required to develop the strategy. 
  • A lot of CCA solutions are related to planning and infrastructure. Community members want to know solutions at a 3,000-foot level but the details and implementation can be saved for the staff. There are community engagement/education solutions (e.g. fireproofing one’s home and allowing fuel reduction strategies) but these do not have to be part of developing or managing the CCA strategy development process. So, consult the community at important steps in developing the plan but do not require that they themselves develop the plan. 

Both communities encountered climate change skeptics.  Below are some tips for building acceptance when dealing with skeptics:

For those who believe that climate change is not occurring, there is frequently also a significant underlying mistrust of the establishment, e.g. governments and authority. They believe that people are being duped into a big climate change hoax and want to remove the wool from our eyes so that we don’t end up making costly decisions that have no benefits.

  • Don’t think that you are going to change their views by arguing with them; for the most part they will not be interested in listening.
  • In general, give the skeptics an opportunity to make their statements, thank them for their comments, and move on.
  • Emphasize that given the widespread scientific agreement on a changing climate, it would not be prudent to ignore potential impacts and adaptation on a local level.

For those who agree that the climate is warming and believe that it is happening for reasons other than greenhouse gas emissions, e.g. solar activity, the adaptation project is an easier sell because its focus is addressing and planning for the impacts of climate change regardless of cause.

Tips for engaging the community:

  • The most successful workshops are those that combine concise delivery of subject matter from visiting experts with interactive components designed to engage participants.
  • In general, residents and local stakeholders are very receptive to activities that enable them to share information and provide input or guidance.
  • Identifying and bringing together a broad group of local stakeholders who may have an interest in climate impacts and adaptation planning at the front end of the project was a really valuable exercise, especially via a workshop.
  • The radio is a fantastic medium to work with. Set up interviews for visiting experts or the local coordinator at key junctures of the project.
  • The community survey may have had a higher response rate if it had also been available on-line and published in the local newspaper.
  • It is beneficial to have the Mayor and several councillors attend the workshops as it demonstrates to the community the City’s commitment to the project; it also provides important opportunities for residents and stakeholders to interact with their elected officials which strengthens the local sense of community for all concerned.

Tips from CBT’s technical advisory committee (2008-2009):

  • Coordinator needs to be enthusiastic, insightful and ‘go-getter’.
  • Use the Starting the Dialogue information as opposed to waiting for community specific assessment in order to shorten the process. This will be less onerous on the community and the consultation process.
  • Continue to pursue the creation of efficiencies between climate change adaptation planning and ICSP/OCP processes.
  • Hold joint workshops between participating communities for events that are similar (i.e. Getting Started, Climate Science, Identifying Local Impacts and Priorities).
  • Have a diverse steering committee with city staff and many others. Often, the city will get most of the action items in the report because it falls into their paid work. This can result in missing other action items that rely on non-city staff or volunteers. Further, implementation of actions may be more difficult as community members are not fully informed.
  • Emphasize that the community is more than the city and include as many groups as possible throughout the process.
  • At the beginning of the process, articulate the outcomes you want to see at each level (individual, neighbourhood, community, city, provincial, etc). Check back on these over time to keep your eye on the big picture.
  • A timely technical review of work and documents communities are creating at defined stages is needed.  This should be coordinated in the work planning upfront with communities.