CALP News Items
1. Download Dr. Stephen Sheppard's proposal for a research and capacity-building program to move BC towards low-carbon, resilient, attractive communities: Community Climate Change Solutions.
For more information, please see Dr. Sheppard's presentation on CALP's current Climate Change capacity building initiatives.
2. 4D Visioning for Climate Decision-Making: Strengthening the local climate change visioning process for communities. There is an urgent need for governments at all levels in Canada to make decisions concerning adaptation and planning strategies for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. The magnitude of this challenge requires integrating input from multiple disciplines and the public into climate change planning. However, there are no planning processes yet in place that permit Canadian communities to translate global and national imperatives into: a) practical planning and land management procedures; b) local community capacity-building and technology transfer; and c) decision-making processes that foster action on climate change adaptation and mitigation. The proposed research addresses these challenges by developing and scientifically evaluating a new decision-support process for climate change adaptation and mitigation, based on an integrated geovisualization system. We aim to develop a prototype for improved community planning to localize, spatialize, and visualize climate change effects using downscaled climate modeling, geospatial information, and the best available land-use models. Versions of the prototype process and tools will be tested in four case study communities across Canada: in Greater Vancouver, downtown Toronto, the Bow river watershed in Alberta, and Clyde River in Nunavut.
Summer 2009: After a successful workshop in the Pilot year, and with renewed funding for years 1-3, the project is gearing up in all four case study communities. The recent GEOIDE Annual Scientific Conference in Vancouver this May was an opportunity for the Canada-wide team to come together and map out a direction for the future of the four case studies. Coordination work will continues throughout the summer as substantive work gets underway. This project is made possible by the GEOIDE Network Centres of Excellence Phase IV funding.
For more information, please contact Kristi Tatebe, project coordinator at Kristine.tatebe@ubc.ca
3. Climate Action Secretariat – Presentations to Citizen’s Conservation Councils on Climate Action. In early 2009, the Climate Action Secretariat contracted CALP to give a presentation on the Local Climate Change Visioning Process to four of seven Citizen’s Conservation Councils on Climate Action. The Citizen’s Conservation Councils were appointed by the provincial government to advise cabinet on the best ways to encourage communities to take action and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and to help build a network for grassroots climate action. Dr. Stephen Sheppard and Kristi Tatebe attended regional council meetings in Terrace, Victoria, Prince George, and Kelowna to give presentations, and facilitate discussion sessions to explore ways that science based, locally informed, visual learning techniques might be useful to the council’s work.
View the final report
View the Citizen’s Conservation Councils on Climate Action website
4. Alliance for Resilient Cities Webinar – June 23, 2009. On June 23, 2009, CALP presented a webinar on Engagement Strategies to Enhance Climate Change Decision-making and Adaptation Planning as part of the Alliance for Resilient Cities Webinar series. The webinar was attended by participants from Canadian municipalities.
Link to Flyer
View the Alliance for Resilient Cities website here: www.cleanairpartnership.org/arc
5. Select CALP Climate Change presentations by Stephen Sheppard (IHDP conference, April 27-29, Bonn Germany; Canadian Institute of Planners Conference, July 14, 2009 Winnipeg, Canada)
6. Jan 28, 2009 Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies Associates Dinner talk by Stephen Sheppard, “Changing our high-carbon aesthetic: Shifting attitudes on climate change. Listen to podcast at www.pwias.ubc.ca
7. Dec 4, 2008 Scientific computer simulations created by UBC researchers show future scenarios, helping municipalities plan strategies for climate change today. www.thesustainableregion.ca click on “Climate Change at the Local Level”
8. Oct 8, 2008 Visualizing Sustainable Futures presentation by Ana Macias Palomo, Barcelona, Spain (Link to presentation pdf)
9. A list of CALP working papers is now available from the publications page.
10. View the current CALP newsletter
as a PDF document (requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader).
11. You are invited to review and comment
on the proposed interim code of ethics for landscape visualization.
12. Download the CALP brochure
as a PDF document (requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader).
