From Vision to Action: Region of Durham Community Climate Change Local Action Plan

2012

To address climate changes, municipalities must act to reduce Greenhouse Gases and act to prevent climate impacts from affecting their residents. In addition to taking action on climate change, the implementation of the potential programs in this report would also increase economic activity, create new businesses and enhance our quality of life in the region. It is important to have collaboration with, and collective and co-ordinated effort by the community and government.

Ontario’s Great Lakes Strategy

2012

The Ontario Great Lake’s Strategy focuses on empowering action by all partners on Great Lakes – from provincial ministries to local service clubs – and on restoring Great Lakes water, beaches and coastal areas. It aims to conserve biodiversity and deal with invasive species. The Strategy supports science to guide our Great Lakes work and addresses the need for climate change adaptation.

Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit User Guide

2012

The Climate Change Adaptation Toolkit has been developed to facilitate robust decision-making processes and to integrate climate change adaptation across the organisation. Specifically: Integrate adaptation and support effective risk management, be more responsive to climate change shocks and trends, maintain standards of service delivery in the face of extreme weather, make effective and consistent decision regarding climate change, form linkages across different work areas, and incorporate uncertainty into decision making.

York Region De-Icing Strategies (2012)

2012

Like many municipalities in Ontario, the Region of York is increasingly challenged by the growing variability of the winter season. Freeze-thaw damage, weather variability and extreme weather events such as blizzards pose a safety hazard for travelers and make it increasingly difficult to maintain the roads, resulting in costly investment in infrastructure.

To adapt to these new weather patterns, the Region has invested in new strategies for de-icing and anti-icing, and has adopted several new tools to optimize their ability to respond to these winter issues.

The case study highlights specific challenges faced by the Region concerning ice and concludes with lessons learned that may be of value to other municipalities that experience similar issues.

Implementing Climate Change Adaptation: Lessons Learned from ten Examples

2012

Some of the main questions communities face in planning for and implementing climate adaptation are: how to begin, how best to use climate science, how to determine the right policies, how to institutionalize them, and how to budget for them. This paper presents ten examples of cities and counties around the country. Each highlights the key lessons learned in the process of moving from planning to implementation on climate adaptation.

Adapting to Urban Heat: a Toolkit for Local Governments

2012

This Urban Heat Tool Kit is designed to help local governments reduce the effects of increased heat on their communities and citizens. It provides an analytic tool for policy makers to consider a combination of four built-environment changes (cool roofs, green roofs, cool pavements, and urban forestry), providing clear criteria for selecting among these approaches. It also examines the roles government can play in pursuing these changes: shaping government’s own operations, mandating or providing incentives for private choices, and engaging in public education.

Climate Considerations for Management of Natural Areas and Green Spaces in the City of Chicago

2012

Managing natural resources in an effective and cost-efficient way requires responding to changes that are occurring in the climate system. This guide focuses on adaptation, with the aim of helping resource managers in the Chicago Wilderness region jump-start the process of updating approaches to management to better incorporate, and reduce the rate of, climate change. Specifically, the goal is to help resource managers identify options that can reduce the exposure of key species or systems to change, reduce their sensitivity to change, or increase their ability to adapt to change.

Leadership & Legacy: Handbook for Local Elected Officials on Climate Change

2012

This handbook has been tailored for elected officials given their position on the front lines. The goal of the handbook is to provide justifications for why cities should proactively undertake an adaptation process and information on climate change that can be used to rationalize adaptive actions. The handbook also offers clear-cut strategies for communicating climate change and the necessity of adaptation in cities.

Hamilton Conservation Authority Climate Change Strategy

2012

The City of Hamilton has experienced several cases of extreme weather over the past decade including flooding, drought and wind events. Recognizing that these events are expected to increase in both frequency and intensity as the climate changes, the Hamilton Conservation Authority decided to develop a climate change adaptation strategy based on a watershed approach. The case study explores the major tenets of the strategy and discusses the challenges, process, next steps and lessons learned. These elements may assist other municipalities and conservation authorities in developing their own ad

Hamilton Conservation Authority Climate Change Strategy (2012)

2012

The City of Hamilton, Ontario, has experienced several cases of extreme weather over the past decade including flooding, drought and wind events. Recognizing that these events are expected to increase in both frequency and intensity as the climate changes, the Hamilton Conservation Authority decided to develop a climate change adaptation strategy based on a watershed approach.

The case study explores the major tenets of the strategy and discusses the challenges, process, next steps and lessons learned. These elements may assist other municipalities and conservation authorities in developing their own adaptation strategy with a watershed approach.