RU R A L D E V E LO PM E N T I N S T I T U T E K N OW L E D G E B R I E F FA L L 2016

KNOWLEDGE BRIEF

Climate Change Adaptation Part II:
Challenges of Climate Change Adaptation in Rural Communities

Sharon Stoddart photo

INTRODUCTION

OVERCOMING INSTITUTIONAL SILOS

Climate change adaptation seeks to increase
community adaptive capacity and resiliency to a
changing climate and extreme weather events. Rural
communities tend to be more vulnerable to climate
change than urban areas as many are economically
dependent on their surrounding natural
environments and they possess fewer adaptation
resources and alternatives.1, 2, 3 This brief discusses
some of the most common adaptation challenges
found in rural communities, as well as illustrated
examples addressing them. For an overview of
Climate Change Adaptation, see Rural Climate
Change Adaptation Part I.

Communities pursuing adaptation face the
common challenge of collaboration. As the nature
of climate change actions calls for collaboration
across sectors and organizations, efforts to work
together collectively are seen as an integral part of
adaptation.4 – 8 While involving diverse stakeholders
with conflicting values and competing interests
is time consuming and prolongs the planning
process,9 better outcomes with broader support can
be achieved. A common lesson learned is the value
of engaging key leaders and champions who can
mobilize stakeholders and lead the process.10
As shown on page 2, the early establishment of a
steering committee that includes individuals with
relevant local knowledge and expertise, as well as
key local stakeholders, can be instrumental for a
successful adaptation planning process.11 – 14

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KNOWLEDGE BRIEF

C L I M AT E C H A N G E A D A P TAT I O N PA R T I I

Learning from Castlegar, BC

Learning from Cariboo-Chilcotin, BC

Castlegar established a local steering committee
tasked with providing local knowledge and expertise
and increasing public involvement while guiding
their climate change adaptation planning. When
assembling the committee, they recognized that
including representatives from diverse community
stakeholder groups would provide the benefit of
promoting the initiative through different networks
while allowing a wide range of viewpoints to be
included. The committee included key representation
from: the Chamber of Commerce, emergency
services, city public works, youth services and seniors
housing cooperative, real estate, Selkirk College, as
well as other grassroots public groups.

The Cariboo Regional District wanted to create a
climate adaptation strategy in preparation for their
20-year Regional Development Strategy so that climate change scenarios could inform future planning.
This was the first regional district-wide approach
in BC to specifically address adaptation and some
valuable lessons were learned that can help other
regional districts and communities, such as:
Collaboration with member municipalities for
adaptation is good opportunity to work on a
tangible project that crosses administrative
boundaries, such as watersheds or forest
management. A Planners’ Working Group
consisting of planners of all local governments
can act as a steering committee for the project.

•

Using science-based projections for future
climate scenarios can inform future priority
development areas, as well as identify
opportunities to address natural hazards
affecting existing settlements.

•

It is important to communicate effectively,
utilizing accessible language. Harness local
examples of climate change already occurring to
support the adaptation dialogue.

The steering committee was instrumental in:
•

Communicating the project to the wider
community;

•

Serving as project champions;

•

Providing direction on public outreach; and

•

Helping deliver and review surveys to community
networks.

Through the steering committee’s guidance, and with
expert help, Castlegar was able to gather local climate
change knowledge and observations; conduct a scan
of potential climate change impacts on Castlegar;
assist with sensitivity and risk assessment; evaluate
priority issues, and establish goals and adaptation
actions.15
Read more about Castlegar’s journey in Climate
Change Adaptation.

CAPACITY ISSUES
Small towns and rural communities often face a
shortage of human capacity and are constrained
by lack of time and budget to devote to new
initiatives.16, 17, 18 These challenges may mean local
governments may be hesitant to begin a climate
adaptation initiative. It is important to recognize
capacity limitations and that time and resources
are a major constraint and it may be necessary
to look for external support.20 Partnering with
post-secondary institutions and seeking funding
earmarked for adaptation from regional funding
agencies and provincial and federal counterparts
may address these capacity limitations.21

2

•

Rural Development In s t i t u t e K N OW L E D G E B R I E F Fa ll 2 0 1 6

Read more about Cariboo-Chilcotin Climate Change
Adaptation Strategy via their website.

Supportive frameworks for small town and rural
planning already exist and can be leveraged
for climate adaptation planning. Collaboration
between neighbouring local governments on land
use and infrastructure issues arising in boundary
areas can be beneficial. Further, preparing for
climate change at a regional level may offer cost
savings and synergies with respect to assessing
impacts and implementing responses.22
While there may be limited funding available
specifically for climate change adaptation
measures, most communities receive investment for
development and infrastructure activities.23 These
funds can be leveraged towards implementing
adaptation in local priority areas.

Learning from Red Deer, AB
While working on their first climate change and
adaptation plan the City of Red Deer initiated a
public opinion survey and determined that under
half of their residents were concerned about
predicted climate change impacts and that only
64.5% believed it important that the city have a plan
and/or policies in place to address the impacts of
climate change.
They identified that building local understanding
of climate change adaptation as an investment in
Red Deer’s future rather than ‘another’ cost was
important. They realized that success could be found
by communicating that clean-up of severe weather
events is normally more costly than preventative
measures.36

FRAMING THE CONVERSATION
Climate Change is a complex and controversial subject matter around which to build awareness and
support.24, 25 Some residents may not acknowledge
climate change is a serious problem and may not
perceive it as a threat to their communities.26, 27, 28
An important component of successful adaptation
is developing community awareness and support,
which can be realized via thoughtful approaches to
public consultation and engagement.29, 30
For practical and political reasons it may be
better to avoid global and national scale debates
(like how to regulate carbon and how much to
cut emissions) and focus on addressing issues
important to the community.31 One approach is to
begin by discussing local weather-related events
(e.g., wildfire, flooding, drought) and how these
are expected to occur more frequently or more
severely.32 Identifying the need to prepare the
community to extreme weather events is something
that everyone can typically get behind. Framing the
discussion in different ways to different stakeholder
groups can also be beneficial. For example, looking
at climate change adaptation through a cost
saving lens can showcase the long-term benefits
of adaptation: ‘green’ infrastructure projects with
reduced life cycle costs, savings on insurance
premiums for sustainable buildings or other key
community assets, or comparing costs of new
infrastructure with those of post-storm clean-up. 33,

With the support of the community and council
Red Deer has been able to move ahead with
their adaptation planning and move towards
implementing strategies to protect their natural and
built assets from damage to climate change.
Read more about Red Deer’s Climate Change
Adaptation Plan via their website.

KNOWLEDGE BRIEF

C H A L L E N G E S O F C L I M AT E C H A N G E A D A P TAT I O N I N RU R A L COMMU N I T I E S

34, 35

Ru ral D e v e l op m e n t I n stitu te K N O W L E D G E B R I E F Fall 2 0 16

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C L I MAT E C H A N G E A DA P TAT I O N PA R T I I: C H A L L E N G E S O F C L I MAT E C H A N G E A DA P TAT I O N I N RU R A L COMMU N I T I E S

REFERENCES & RESOURCES
1.

Harford, D (2008). Climate Change
Adaptation: Planning for BC. Pacific Institute
for Climate Solutions.

2.

Lal, P. (2011). Socio-economic impacts of
climate change on rural United States.
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for
Global Change.

3.

Wall, E., & Marzall, K. (2006). Adaptive
capacity for climate change in Canadian
rural communities. Local Environment (11:4),
373-397.

4.

ICLEI Canada. (2016). Making Strides
on Community Adaptation in Canada.
Retrieved from: http://www.icleicanada.org/
component/k2/item/244-making-strideson-community-adaptation.

5.

Allman, L., Fleming, P. & Wallace, A. (2004).
The progress of English and Welsh local
authorities in addressing climate change,
Local Environment, (9:3), 271–283.

6.

Clean Air Partnership. (2012). Accelerating
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7.

Wall E, Smit B, Wandell J. (2005). From
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communities and climate change impacts,
adaptation and vulnerability. CanadianClimate Impacts and Adaptation Research
Network.

8.

9.

Carlson, D. (2012). Preparing For Climate
Change: An Implementation Guide for Local
Governments in British Columbia. West Coast
Environmental Law.
Columbia Basin Trust. (2011). Columbia Basin
Case Studies: Final Report.

10. Fraser Basin Council. (2013). District of
Saanich Case Study. Retrieved from http://
www.fraserbasin.bc.ca/_Library/CCAQ_
BCRAC/bcrac_fbc_cs_saanich.pdf.
11. Hilpert, K., Mannke, F., Schmidt, P. (2007).
Towards Climate Change Adaptation in
the Baltic Sea Region, Geological Survey of
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projects/astra/.

12. Fraser Basin Council. (2013). District of
Saanich Case Study. Retrieved from http://
www.fraserbasin.bc.ca/_Library/CCAQ_
BCRAC/bcrac_fbc_cs_saanich.pdf.
13. Castlegar, City of, (2011). Adapting to
Climate Change Project Summary Report &
Action Plan. City of Castlegar, 69. Retrieved
from: http://www.cbt.org/uploads/pdf/
Castlegar_Climate_Change_Adaptation_
Report_final.pdf.
14. Ligeti, E., Penney, J., Wieditz, I. (2007). Cities
preparing for climate change: A study of
six urban regions. Clean Air Partnership.
Retrieved from: http://www.sfrpc.com/
Climate%20Change/8.pdf.
15. Castlegar, City of, (2011).
16. Canadian Institute of Planners. (2010).
Climate Change Planning: Case Studies from
Canadian Communities. Retrieved from:
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CASE-STUDIES-FROM-CANADIANCOMMMUNITIES-FINAL.
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18. Laurie, M., Roussin, R., Gosal, K., Ockenden,
G., (2010). Columbia Basin Trust CACCI
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Change: An Implementation Guide for Local
Governments in British Columbia. West Coast
Environmental Law.
20. Headwater Economics. (2012). Implementing
Climate Change Adaptation: Lessons learned
from ten examples.
21. The 2016 federal budget Growing the
Middle Class, includes money designated for
climate change adaptation initiatives and
green infrastructure. See: http://www.ubcm.
ca/EN/meta/news/news-archive/2016archive/2016-federal-budget-highlights.
html.
22. Carlson, D. (2012) Preparing For Climate
Change: An Implementation Guide for Local
Governments in British Columbia. West Coast
Environmental Law.

24. Canadian Institute of Planners. (2010).
25. Rescan Environmental Services Ltd. (2012).
Prairies Regional Adaptation Collaborative:
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Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Watershed
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R. (2003). Understanding climate change
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Forest Research, (33), 2252–226.
27. Lorenzoni, I., Nicholson-Cole, S., & L, W.
(2007). Barriers perceived to engaging
with climate change among the UK public
and their policy implications. Global
Environmental Change (17:3), 445-459.
28. Boon, H. (2014) Perceptions of climate
change risk in four disaster-impacted rural
Australian towns. Reg Environ Change.
(16)137–149.
29. Wall, E., & Marzall, K. (2006). Adaptive
capacity for climate change in Canadian
rural communities. Local Environment
(11:4), 373-397.
30. Carlson, D. (2012).
31. Headwater Economics. (2012).
Implementing Climate Change Adaptation:
Lessons learned from ten examples.
32. Carlson, D. (2012).
33. Carlson, D. (2012).
34. Auld, H. and D. MacIver. Cities and
Communities: The Changing Climate and
Increasing Vulnerability of Infrastructure.
Occasional Paper 3. Environment Canada,
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36. Canadian Institute of Planners. (2010).

23. Carlson, D. (2012).

The Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute, at Selkirk College, is a regional research centre with a mandate to support informed decision-making by
Columbia Basin-Boundary communities through the provision of information, applied research, and related outreach and extension support.
Visit www.cbrdi.ca for more information.

www.cbrdi.ca

1.888.953.1133