Visualizing Urban Futures: Geomatics Decision Support For Canadian Urban Regions

Last modified on 2012-04-16 21:19:03 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

On April 1, 2011 GEOIDE approved this project (one of eight Targeted Strategic Investment Initiative projects) in partnership with the Neptis Foundation.

The need for Canada’s urban regions to become more sustainable in environmental, economic, and social terms has grown markedly over the past decade. In this light, a variety of provincial, metropolitan and local initiatives have been launched to address sector-specific, thematic dimensions of urban sustainability including urban sprawl (e.g. Ontario Places to Grow Act 2005), energy production and consumption (BC Bill 27 Green Communities 2007, Ontario Green Energy Act 2009) and transportation (e.g. Region of Waterloo Light Rapid Transit, Metrolinx Regional Transportation Plan). Such initiatives are transformative in nature, demand substantial realignment of public priorities and resource allocations and, ultimately, are implemented, planned and managed at local and regional scales, with local implications for neighbourhood livability and functionality.

This project will address these needs by producing “digital stories based in data”, based on interactive scenario exploration tools and methods that link future land use choices, transportation infrastructure, energy and climate change (GHG) strategies. Specifically, the project proposes to develop and test a suite of prototype web-based “spatial dashboard” decision tools, coupled with immersive geovisualization environments, to foster information-rich and scenario-based exploration of land use and select urban sustainability issues. The tools will be applied to three interrelated problem domains highly relevant in the Canadian urban context: a) urban intensification and land use change, b) transportation systems, and c) urban energy demand, renewable energy potential, and GHG emissions reductions.

This project will seek to overcome this barrier in three key ways. First, a multi-scale approach will be adopted to permit neighbourhood level changes to land use, transportation and energy use / generation to be understood in light of regional land use/transportation systems. Second, development and evaluation of the tools and use protocols will be conducted across the urban regions of Toronto, Vancouver and Waterloo, with some variation for local concerns and expertise, in order to ensure transferability of research outputs. Finally, our research will be anchored in practice through deep involvement of key local and regional partners (e.g. Toronto and Regional Conservation Authority, Metro Vancouver, Surrey, Richmond, Waterloo Region, Toronto District School Board), working closely with NEPTIS on overall tool development and usability. Thus, end-user engagement is a cross-cutting dimension of this project, involving a spectrum of local decision makers, domain experts, and interested citizens, that will ensure the research is relevant to practice.

Read the 2011 GEOIDE Progress Report for this project TSII-201.  Please contact Ellen Pond for more information.

Funded by: GEOIDE Networks of Centres of Excellence/Neptis Foundation (2011 – 2013) (Phase IV Project:  TSII-201)
Project Leader: Dr. Eric J. Miller, University of Toronto
Deputy Project Leader: Dr. Stephen Sheppard
UBC Researchers:  Ellen Pond, Ron Kellett
UBC Students:  Rory Tooke

4D Visioning for Climate Decision-Making: Strengthening the local climate change visioning process for communities.

Last modified on 2012-04-16 21:02:51 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

This research project is a continuation of the Local Climate Change Visioning Tools and Process for Community Decision Making project.  Our aim is 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. 

Clyde River is an arctic Hamlet of approximately 1,000 people in Canada’s Nunavut Territory.  Arctic regions are seeing rapid changes in weather, landscape and lifestyle as a result of climate change, communities are geographically dispersed and culturally distinct from the central government.  Climate change planning in this context is especially challenging, and this project seeks to understand the role that 4D visioning might play in assisting communities and governments better adapt to the changes ahead.   

Researchers from CALP are working with the Ittaq Heritage and Research Centre in Clyde River, and with Natural Resources Canada to collaboratively develop and model future development scenarios based on key community priorities.  Community meetings, radio shows, mapping workshops, and 3D modeling have all been used to communicate these scenarios to different audiences. 

Future work will continue to share this work with relevant decision-makers in the Government of Nunavut and beyond, and to evaluate its potential usefulness to future planning projects in the north.

View the latest poster series from the March 2012 trip to Clyde River, Nunavut, which completes 4 years of collaborative research for this case study in connection to landscape hazards, climate, population, community design, land use, energy use and quality of life in Clyde River both now and in the future.

Download a 2-page summary of the project from January, 2011.   Other information may be available on the ITTAQ’s website (under their Projects page).

For more information, please contact David Flanders David.Flanders@ubc.ca

Funded by: GEOIDE Networks of Centres of Excellence (Phase IV 2009 – 2012)
Project Leadr: Dr. Stephen Sheppard
CALP Researchers:  David Flanders, Ellen Pond, Sara Barron, Olaf Schroth, Kristi Tatebe

Participatory Flood Management Planning in Delta, BC – BC Regional Adaptation Collaborative

Last modified on 2012-04-16 21:14:37 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

BC’s Regional Adaptation Collaborative (BC RAC) is a collection of projects across the province relating to climate change adaptation and water issues. A three-year project, this work began in 2009 and will continue into the Spring of 2012. The CALP RAC project focuses on flood adaptation planning in the Fraser River delta community of Delta, BC.

The Province of BC provides guidelines and tools for flood risk management; however, it is the responsibility of the local governments to define their flood hazards, integrate these with land use planning policies and implement sufficient flood protection. Uncertainty in climate science and the lack of effective engagement tools make it difficult for local governments to build public support for flood-related climate policy and action. Previous CALP research in 2007 using visualization of flood scenarios and adaptation options has proven effective in developing community awareness of and support for adaptation needs in the community, and this project seeks to build on this success.

Existing research & knowledge of local vulnerability to climate change will be combined with new data to support stakeholder dialogue in this process to identify, visualize, and evaluate adaptation options to coastal and river flood risk under climate change in the Corporation of Delta, BC. Project outputs will include recommendations regarding adaptation decision-making and policy, that can also inform other communities in the province facing similar risks.

For more information on the RAC project, please visit the Fraser Basin Council’s project website or contact Sara Barron at CALP for more information.

Funded by: Natural Resources Canada (Regional Adaptation Collaborative) and the Fraser Basin Council (2009 – 2012)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Stephen Sheppard
CALP Researchers: Sara Barron, Ellen Pond, David Flanders and Kristi Tatebe

Regional Climate Action Dialogue Visioning

Last modified on 2011-04-11 17:59:09 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

The idea behind this project (6 visioning sessions) is to inform and engage potential community leaders in the Regional Climate Action Dialogues about the LCCV process, with the objectives of :

• Demonstration and knowledge transfer on visioning methods and requirements, with the launching of new visioning guidelines (sponsored by Ministry of Community Development).
• Providing a framework for initial cross-sectoral discussion and  collaboration of Forum attendees. Because the Visioning session will come at the end of the RCAD, the session can build on what Forum participants have learned and discussed over the previous day and a half, eg. in the clean energy and community infrastructure sessions.
• Offering a possible pathway to action after the Forums through an ongoing visioning process driven by regional stakeholders or local communities, to help develop/affirm more tangible regional goals for action by various sectors (both formal and informal). Participants can then leave the sessions with some tangible outcomes, ideas, and effective tools for collectively addressing climate change and, through the broader RCAD, the social and professional networks to implement those tools.

150 participants attended the Climate Action Event:  ”Big Leaps and Small Steps”, University of Victoria held June 10th, 2010.  Components of this event were:

-       Sector Leaders Dialogue
-       Community Action Case Study
-       Community Action Training with BC Healthy Communities
-       Visioning Training with CALP (view this workshop’s Climate Impacts Exercise worksheets (7mb pdf)

56 participants attended the Climate Action Event:  ”Big Leaps and Small Steps”, University of Northern BC (Prince George) held June 23, 2010.  A 2 page summary report of the Victoria and Prince George Climate Action Secretariat Regional Dialogue sessions has been prepared for more information on those workshops.

The last 4 visioning sessions were held in Kelowna (Sept 23), Dawson Creek, Fort St. John and Terrace (October 18-21).

For more information on this project please contact Ellen Pond or Laura Cornish at CALP.  For archived sessions, please contact the PICS office directly, e-mail: pics@uvic.ca

Funded by: BC’s Climate Action Secretariat and the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS). (June – October 2010). 
Project Leader: Dr. Stephen Sheppard
CALP Researchers: Ellen Pond, Jonathan Salter, Laura Cornish

Local Climate Change Visioning Tools and Process for Community Decision-Making

Last modified on 2011-04-11 17:34:06 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

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 inplace 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.

Download a 2-page summary of the Clyder River project from January, 2011.   CALP’s latest work in Clyde River can also be seen on the ITTAQ’s website (under their Projects page).

Please contact Kristi Tatebe for more information.   Local Climate Change Project Flyer (PIV 032)

Funded by: GEOIDE Networks of Centres of Excellence (2009 – 2012)
Project Leader: Dr. Stephen Sheppard
CALP Researchers:  Kristi Tatebe, Olaf Schroth, David Flanders, Ellen Pond

Neighbourhood Energy Modeling & Benefits Analysis for Greenhouse Gas Reductions Project

Last modified on 2010-12-09 22:39:23 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Building energy use contributes approximately 12% of the province’s current greenhouse gas emissions (BC Climate Action Plan), and significantly to municipal emissions.  Given current provincial targets of reducing proving GHGs by 80% by 2050 (mandated by Bill 44, The Greenhouse Gas Reductions Targets Act), a significant reduction in the energy use – and moves to renewable energy – are required in buildings.  While a portion of this reduction can be achieved by constructing new low-energy buildings and by replacing existing buildings during redevelopment, the aggressiveness of the provincial targets and the likely rate of redevelopment means that a substantial portion of the building GHG reductions will have to come from retrofitting existing buildings and neighbourhoods.  While there are some options that can be applied at the individual building scale (passive solar approaches, increasing insulation and the efficiency of HVAC systems), there are others such as community energy systems that are likely to be more cost-effective if implemented at the block or neighbourhood scale.

This research project aims to provide case study energy modeling for three neighbourhood types, typical of many BC communities, with two to four low energy and low GHG emissions options per neighbourhood.  The options will be linked to a benefits analysis including quantifiable costing, research into economies of scale, other co-benefits, and recommendations for policy to enable implementation.
Please contact Ellen Pond for more project information:  epond@interchange.ubc.ca

Funded by: Real Estate Institute of British Columbia (2009 – 2010)
Principal Investigator:  Dr. Stephen Sheppard
CALP Researchers:  Duncan Cavens, Ellen Pond, and Nicole Miller

Columbia Basin and City of Kimberley – Climate Change Visioning Pilot and Regional Template

Last modified on 2010-12-09 22:38:28 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

With increasing impacts of climate change, provincial legislation to reduce carbon footprints, and pressures such as rising fuel costs and economic uncertainty, rural communities face many new challenges; however, they may also have significant latent capacity for adaptation, energy self-reliance, and overall resilience, if well planned.  A major problem that confronts rural communities is how to plan more effectively for such a transition, given limited resources, incomplete data on new threats/solutions, the complexity of climate change information, and the lack of proven templates for mainstreaming adaptation and mitigation into planning. This project will apply innovative visioning methods, initially tested by CALP in the Lower Mainland, to a Columbia Basin community: the City of Kimberley.
Please contact Ellen Pond for more project information.

Funded by: Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia and the City of Kimberley and BC Ministry of Community Development (2008- 2009)
Principal Investigator:  Dr. Stephen Sheppard
CALP Researchers:  Ellen Pond, Cam Campbell, Olaf Schroth, Sara Muir-Owen (PICS)