Communities and Socio-Economic Research Projects

This report provides an overview of the findings from the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative project, Nikan Oti: Future – Understanding Adaptation and Adaptive Capacity in two First Nations.

Download Full Report Report (846 kb)

Collapse this panel

This summary report provides an overview of the findings from the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative project, Isi Askiwan -The State oft he Land: Prince Albert Grand Council Elders’ Forum on Climate Change.

Download Summary Report (1.0 Mb)        Download Final Report (448 Kb)

Collapse this panel

The effectiveness of our efforts to mitigate the effects of and adapt to climate change will depend upon effective policy formulation and implementation. If past policy failures are any indication, however, good policy is not solely a function of the identification of new needs, in some instances it may require substantial institutional change. In order to capture the potential for effective policy to be generated from within our own forestry, agriculture, and water policy communities, we conducted a study of the attitudes and beliefs of policy community actors in these sectors. Our findings indicate that certain features of a policy actor’s socio-political identity influence her perceptions of the salience of climate change, and her willingness to take action. Studies of this type will be an important component of assessments of political capacity to respond to climate change.

Download Report (1.0 Mb)

Collapse this panel

This report provides an overview of findings from the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative project, Assessing the Potential for Policy Responses to Climate Change. The authors use a number of social science methods to examine the policy making process in the Prairie agriculture, forestry, and water sectors. A web-based survey of 800 decision-makers examined their policy belief structure, their attitudes towards climate change issues and risk, and their network structures. The results reveal that competing policy belief structures do exist and may prove important in determining the future direction of climate change policies.

Download Report (1.28 Mb)

Collapse this panel

The purpose of the project was to determine effective ways of communicating climate change information with adults in the region of Riding Mountain Biosphere Reserve (RMBR). There were four objectives of the project:
1. To determine the level of understanding of climate change among selected adult learners;
2. To evaluate a program of climate change to adult learners;
3. To establish the program effectiveness regarding communicating climate change information; and,
4. To suggest strategies for effective communication of climate change for successful implementation of adaptation strategies.

This report is the final project deliverable. As such it captures the work completed since the interim report and outlines:
1. The organization, promotion and successful implementation of the Community Climate Change workshop;
2. The development and implementation of the Pre- and Post workshop survey questionnaires;
3. A summary review and discussion of the survey results;
4. Workshop evaluation and summary of communication suggestions for the study region; and,
5. Attachments pertinent to the above research activities.

Download Report (1.51 Mb)

Collapse this panel

Climate change is a phenomenon that is receiving increasing worldwide attention. While substantial research has been carried out on the potential effects of climate change in the Canadian Prairies at the regional, provincial, and individual farm levels, no studies have evaluated the socio-economic impacts of these changes at the community level. In addition, despite the increase in media attention, many people at the community level are still uninformed and confused about the potential biophysical and socio-economic impacts of climate change. The research presented in this report assessed the potential impacts of climate change on agriculture and forestry, and evaluated the detailed impacts on six rural municipalities in the Canadian prairies. The research project was designed as an evolutionary model, allowing for progressive improvements in functionality and sophistication. An initial model in the form of a software tool was developed and established: the Socio-Economic Analysis (SEA) model. The model is designed to examine the socio-economic impacts of climate change on agriculture and forestry in prairie communities and to aid these communities in determining the economic impacts of various adaptation strategies. It is flexible and interactive and can accommodate various standard or user-defined scenarios. The base data used in the SEA model includes biophysical data published by various authors, as well as economic and model shows that climate change impacts on agriculture mostly depend on the chosen scenario, while all forestry scenarios agree that grassland and other vegetation types will extent northwards, thereby reducing the amount of boreal forest in the three Prairie provinces.

The main output from this research is an easy-to-use, transparent software model with the capabilities to analyse and display climate change impacts for individual Prairie communities. The individual objectives achieved in this study included:

• Development of a Socio-Economic Analysis (SEA) software program which examines the economic impacts of climate change on agriculture and forestry in the three prairie provinces at the rural municipality level and provides guidance in terms of the economic impacts of various adaptation strategies;
• Extensive consultations with partner Prairie communities in order to identify their needs for a climate change tool, such as the Socio-Economic Analysis (SEA) model, and the development of an extensive network of community partners for further model development;
• A thorough review of existing vulnerability and climate change models; • Identification of socio-economic activities vulnerable to climate change;
• A determination of the most relevant and accessible socio-economic measures for use in the SEA;
• Collection of existing data on biophysical vulnerability to climate change in the Canadian Prairies; socio-economic data from various government agencies. The output from various iterations of the SEA
• Assembly of relevant socio-economic data on a community level.

The modelling team hosted and attended workshops and meetings with RM representatives in order to identify the needs of the users. A literature review was carried out on the issues of climate change, vulnerability and adaptability with special regard to the Canadian Prairies. Socio-economic measures suitable for use in model development were reviewed. The review revealed that, geographically, agriculture and forestry were the most vulnerable activities in the Prairies. Published data on impacts of climate change on agriculture and forestry were collected into a database, as well as sector employment, which was the most readily accessible parameter to evaluate socio-economic impacts. The biophysical and socio-economic data was entered into Microsoft Excel and Access databases. The SEA model was designed based on the available data. The model completed to date is a core component that can be extended in the future. The next step will be to build other submodels, when the necessary funding is secured. The initial version of the model was developed for six test locations: in Manitoba the RMs of Stanley and Swan River; in Saskatchewan the RMs of Indian Head and North Battleford; and in Alberta the Counties of Stettler and Athabasca. The model was programmed using Visual Basic 6.0.

Summary Document (2.3 Mb)
Download Report (739 Kb)

Collapse this panel

Climate change could alter the health status, directly or indirectly, of populations on the Canadian Prairies. However, the health effects of climate change on Prairie residents, and short-, medium-, and long-term adaptation measures that will be required, are largely unknown. We invited various stakeholders in four sectors (Government, Industry, Academia, and Public) to participate in Round Table Discussions (RTDs) in order to obtain a balanced perspective for the future directions that research might take regarding human health and climate change. Discussions took place in each Prairie province with the following objectives: to identify meaningful and feasible human health and climate change research questions specific to the Prairie region; to identify resources available for the conduct of research into the relationship between human health and climate change; and, to identify opportunities for public outreach and education regarding adaptation to climate change. Our results indicate that there is a need for greater collaboration between physical sciences and health sciences, a need to better understand future climate scenarios, and a need to understand how these scenarios could affect the health of human populations on the Canadian Prairies. Other significant issues of high priority to Prairie stakeholders were: water quality and quantity, economic effects of climate change, air quality and other pollutants, adaptation capacity posed by the future climate challenges, new disease burdens, agriculture and rural health, and, finally, risk communication and public outreach. The interdependence of adaptation on measures to mitigate climate change could not be ignored in any of the discussions.

Download Report (114 Kb)

Collapse this panel

Cities will likely experience some of the greatest impacts from climate change mainly because they are concentrations of population, wealth, infrastructure, and communication. There has been little research done to determine how cities might be affected by climate change or what cities should or could do to adapt to climate change. Current climate impacts are costly, disruptive, and possibly dangerous, especially the extreme events and can simultaneously affect several departments. This trend is expected to increase with climate change. Therefore, cities are subject to immense risk from climate change impacts and would benefit from improved adaptation. Important climate impact areas include water resources, infrastructure, economic performance, energy, parks, recreation, pests, transportation, and human health. It is advantageous to determine the current and future possible effects of climate change on cities and what adaptation options are available and suitable. Some areas, such as the transportation infrastructure development area, require decision-making for the long term because actions taken now have effect over several decades. Adaptation is essential for optimizing beneficial climatic effects and minimizing adverse effects. Climate change research regarding cities has focussed primarily on mitigation, leaving a tremendous knowledge gap about impacts and adaptation. This report is the first in Canada to focus on the impacts of climate change on cities, and on adaptation strategies. It is a first step towards examining the adaptability of Canadian cities by determining how they use climate information, how cities may be affected by climate change, and what adaptation options may be appropriate. Another main objective assessed the robustness of the urban decision-making process to improve adaptability to climate change. The methodology included expert judgement and a critical literature review. The project focussed on several Canadian Prairie cities, including Regina, Saskatoon, Swift Current, Prince Albert, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Winnipeg and Brandon (Figure 1) although the project is relevant to many other cities.

Summary Document (1.5 Mb)

Download Report (12.8 Mb)

Collapse this panel

Prairie rural communities are facing very substantial economic and social issues that tend to overwhelm any significant involvement by those communities in directly addressing issues of climate change. This report summarizes information about some of the social and economic characteristics of prairie rural communities as well as setting some historical context for that information. Results of surveys about attitudes toward climate change as an issue are also presented.

This report represents a work in progress that is funded largely by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada with additional support through the Prairie Adaptation Research Collaborative (PARC) and CCAF. The larger study involves 10 academic researchers with partners among numerous government and non-government organizations. The researchers are engaged in a three-year study of the social cohesion of six rural communities in the prairies of Saskatchewan. “Social cohesion” refers to the bonding effect within a society that arises from the willingness of individuals to enter into relationships with one another to increase their ability to survive and prosper. It is helpful to think of social cohesion as a collection of norms (folkways, values, beliefs, common expectations about appropriate role behaviour, and the responsibilities that people have to each other) that make people think and act in certain ways. It is this collection that gives meaning to everyday life, allows us to figure out where we fit in and how we order our lives. It reflects our willingness to share and engage in common enterprises. It includes our commitment to each other and how we share and work together. It becomes the local version of a mode of regulation where we accept our collective responsibilities and become attached, emotionally as well as symbolically to place and to that place’s collection of people and institutions.

Our SSHRC study explores six objectives:
1. Providing the essential historical context for community-building within rural, southern Saskatchewan;
2. Describing how decisions are made in rural communities adapting to change;
3. Developing recommendations on education and training programmes that support change in rural communities;
4. Assessing how various levels of government and institutions encourage/promote change in rural communities;
5. Characterizing how past changes to the environment affected communities and developing a model to identify how communities may be affected by further environmental stresses;
6. Developing recommendations for effective policies to help rural communities to survive.

This report addresses issues related to objective 5 which involves a consideration of the relative impacts of climate variability and change on the viability of rural communities. The first phase of our work in this regard involved surveying researchers and managers as to their perspective on the importance of climate change as an environmental issue affecting communities. The second phase beginning February 2002 involves a survey of citizens in selected rural communities as to their views on factors affecting the cohesion of their communities including climate change.

Download Report (2 Mb)

Collapse this panel