Not-for-profit, ClimateWest is expanding to work with the prairie region in finding ways to address adaptation through information and data.
“We hope to help communities, governments, and businesses better address opportunities and risks posed by the change across the prairie region,” said ClimateWest Executive Director, Jane Hilderman.
“There’s growing recognition of the challenge in front of us regarding climate change, but the side that often gets less attention is adaptation. It’s just as important when we think about continuing to be a place where people can maintain a great quality of life, and work,” she said.
The team at ClimateWest felt it was important to begin working with the prairies as extreme weather events have increased in severity and volatility
“We have strong evidence to suggest that trend is going to continue. A lot of research suggests that if we can invest now and think about the steps that we can take to become more resilient, we will benefit in many factors later, by having recognized those risks and taking the steps to address them,” Hilderman said.
“It really is the urgency of the moment that ClimateWest hopes to meet. There’s a much better understanding and awareness around these challenges as these issues are becoming more and more on people’s minds,” she said.
ClimateWest is prepared to take into account any risks and opportunities different entities face, such as small municipalities, larger cities, or businesses that are impacted by natural resources, land, and climate patterns.
“We want to make sure that the best available data, climate trends, and the understanding around adaptation
practices are more widely available and lower the entry bar to being able to begin the planning process and taking the steps to invest, whether it be in infrastructure, management practices, or land use policies,” Hilderman said.
“It depends who you are and what you’re doing, but our job at ClimateWest is to come along and be a helpful partner in that adaptation
work,” she said.
Hilderman expects ClimateWest to be a supplement to municipalities by offering support and access to climate data, interrupting the data, and determining how to best intergrade it into existing planning mechanisms.
“We would be undertaking, on a case by case basis, that tailored support to be able to advise, and determine how best we can support that through the expertise and access to information that we have,” Hilderman said.
Hilderman’s ultimate goal in working with the prairies is to build resilience.
“COVID-19 has highlighted how important resilience is as a concept when faced with adversity, uncertainty, and unpredictability. It’s not something that you can snap your fingers and create, it takes time, practice, planning, and preparation,” Hilderman said.
“Hopefully, we see the value of those things even more so in Alberta that has already been touched significantly by extreme weather. The weather events, flooding, and hailstorms have been a huge cost already,” she said.
“If we can emulate that in the long run, it would stand to benefit the province, in terms of the public dollars that would be available to do other things that are important to the people of Alberta, and make sure businesses aren’t having to deal with other disaster challenges Infront of them, so they can focus on doing everything else they are trying to do,” she added.
