Climate change adaptation is preparing for and responding to potential impacts due to climate change. Increasing resilience to climate changes will help ensure communities are prepared for the future.

"Climate Change Adaptation involves making adjustments in our decisions, activities and thinking in response to observed and predicted changes in climate. The goal is limiting harm or reducing costs in the long-term while taking advantage of new opportunities and maximizing benefits.

Successful adaptation does not mean that impacts will not occur, only that they will be less severe than would be experienced had no adaptation occurred."
Natural Resource Canada (NRCAN 2007),
Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a Changing Climate

To read more about the definitions of climate change, visit http://pacificclimate.org/resources/faq/climatedefinitions/

CBT understands that climate change impacts are directly felt at the community level and that increasing community resiliency to deal with impacts is important.

In 2008-2009, CBT supported two communities, the District of Elkford and the City of Kimberley, to identify local climate change impacts, determine how vulnerable these communities may be to impacts and to develop plans to adapt to and increase the community's resilience to expected climate change impacts.

Phase 2 of CBT's Communities Adapting to Climate Change Initiative started in September 2009 with the communities of Rossland, Castlegar and Kaslo in partnership with the Regional District of Central Kootenay.

The Communities Adapting to Climate Change initiative supports communities of the Canadian Columbia Basin to increase their adaptive capacity and resiliency to climate change impacts at a community level.

The initiative is spearheaded by CBT and supported by advisors from a host of academic, First Nations and governmental institutions, as well as community development practitioners.

Phase 2 Communities

Castlegar

The City of Castlegar has identified municipal infrastructure as a key priority for climate change adaptation. Working in partnership with Engineers Canada, the City will conduct a vulnerability assessment for the storm water system to identify monitoring and management actions needed to ensure climate resiliency.

Because food security has been identified as a critical issue for the community, the City will also be exploring the resiliency of Castlegar’s food system to climate changes, as well as establish a process to enable the community to identify a third impact area for further investigation. The City of Castlegar is also strategically exploring sustainability and will integrate climate change adaptation and mitigation into the concurrent Official Community Plan update.

Rossland

The City of Rossland’s Sustainability Commission (www.visionstoaction.ca) is focusing on climate change adaptation through a socio-economic lens to identify key vulnerabilities and opportunities for Rossland’s local economy in the next forty years. Rossland has partnered with Simon Fraser University’s Adapting to Climate Change Team (ACT) to conduct research for their adaptation project. Rossland’s local adaptation steering committee is working closely with all parties including the Sustainability Commission, to help guide the process.

Kaslo/RDCK Area D

The Village of Kaslo and Regional District of Central Kootenay Area D are pursuing a collaborative adaptation project. Their joint regional adaptation steering committee will play a key role in identifying areas for investigation as well as high priority adaptation strategies. Water has been identified as a priority impact area for further investigation with an expressed interest in developing a computerized water model (hydrological model) to identify the impacts of climate change on small water systems. Additional areas for investigation will be sought by consulting with the community and the steering committee.

Phase 2 Community Contacts

Kristin Aasen	Sustainability Facilitator, City of Castlegar http://www.castlegar.ca/sustainable kaasen@castlegar.ca
Jennifer Ellis	Project Manager Rossland Sustainability Commission http://www.visionstoaction.ca visionstoaction@rossland.ca
Tim Sander	Kaslo/RDCK Area D Climate Adaptation Project Coordinator http://www.rdck.bc.ca/adaptation timsander@telus.net

Phase 1 (2008-2009) included two pilot communities, Kimberley and the District of Elkford, a learning network and an advisory committee. Phase 2 (2009 - 2010) includes three new communities: Rossland, Castlegar and Kaslo (in partnership with the Regional District of Central Kootenay), in addition to the learning network and an advisory committee.

Phase 1 Communites

Elkford

In 2008-2009, the District of Elkford undertook a community learning, engagement and planning process on adapting to local climate changes. Priority impact areas investigated in Elkford included: wildfire, water availability and flooding. Elkford will be the first community in British Columbia to integrate climate change adaptation into their Official Community Plan.

Elkford has completed its Climate Change Adaptation Strategy.

Kimberley

In 2008-2009, the City of Kimberley undertook a community learning, engagement and planning process on adapting to local climate changes. The process included three stages: 1) Learning from scientific data and local observations 2) Sharing the results with community and 3) Action planning for short and long-term adaptation measures. Priority impact areas investigated in Kimberley included: water and forests, municipal infrastructure and tourism.

Kimberley has completed its Climate Change Adaptation Strategy.

Join the Learning Network!

Local government staff and elected officials and their partners are invited to join the Columbia Basin-wide Learning Network on climate change adaptation. The Learning Network gathers online and by telephone twice yearly to reflect on the work taking place in communities and how it may expand. Workshops, study tours and community presentations are offered to members. Email adaptation@cbt.org for more information.

Workshops and Presentations

This section contains workshops and presentations given by CBT and its technical advisory and support teams. These are specific to the Communities Adapting to Climate Change initiative. They can be found on the Resources page under Adaptation Workshops and Presentations.

Contacts

Michelle Laurie	Coordinator for CBT Initiative on Communities Adapting to Climate Change adaptation@cbt.org
Rachael Roussin	Assistant for CBT Initiative on Communities Adapting to Climate Change cbtadaptation@gmail.com

Phase 1 Community Contacts

Ingrid Liepa	Kimberley Climate Adaptation Project Coordinator http://www.city.kimberley.bc.ca/siteengine/activepage.asp?PageID=277 kimberleyclimate@shaw.ca
Corien Speaker	CAO, District of Elkford http://www.elkford.sgas.bc.ca/ cspeaker@elkford.ca

Columbia Basin Trust has developed an online Climate Change Adaptation Resource Kit that synthesizes and documents the experiences and learning's from two Columbia Basin communities that took part in Phase 1 of CBT's Communities Adapting to Climate Change Initiative.

Each community will find its own way through adaptation planning but the experiences of others that have already completed adaptation plans can be informative and invaluable.

An online resource kit, based on the learning and experiences in Phase 1 of CBT's Communities Adapting to Climate Change Initiative, is now available. This resource kit is loaded with information, templates and lessons learned by two Columbia Basin communities that undertook a climate change adaptation planning process in 2008-2009. Please use this online resource kit to help you in your own community planning process.

Adaptation Resource Kit Table of Contents

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