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

Rural Climate Change Adaptation Part I

Eric Gonzalez and Rossland Tourism photo

INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS ADAPTATION?

Across the world communities are thinking about how
climate change and extreme weather events will affect
them and are taking steps to prepare and adapt. Within
the Columbia Basin-Boundary region, the impacts of climate change are already being felt and in response there
is growing recognition of the importance of proactive
approaches to prepare for a future with a less predictable
climate.

Climate change adaptation serves to proactively position
communities to build their capacity to adapt to forecasted
climate changes and extreme weather events. While
increasingly adaptation planning has been undertaken in
rural municipalities, including within the Basin through
the Communities Adapting to Climate Change Initiative
(CACCI),2 rural adaptation planning is still in its early days.
A 2010 survey of BC planners found that differentiating
the concepts of adaptation versus mitigation was not well
understood among respondents.3, 4 Undoubtedly, the level
of understanding of many planners has since increased,
however, it remains important to distinguish between
the concepts:

Communities within the Basin-Boundary are projected
to experience higher average temperatures along with
more very hot days and longer warm spells. Summer
precipitation is forecasted to decrease while winter
precipitation increases and is more likely to fall as rain
at lower elevations. Regional glaciers are expected to
retreat and snowpack will be reduced at lower elevations
affecting seasonal stream flows. Rainfalls will become
more intense, flood events will become more frequent and
droughts will be longer and hotter while wildfires increase
in frequency.1 These projected climate changes will affect
the environment, economy, and quality of life across the
region, albeit to varying degrees.

•

Mitigation consists of actions aimed to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions that cause anthropogenic
climate change.5 Mitigation is necessary, at a global
scale, to reduce the rate and magnitude of climate
change.

•

Adaptation can include any activity that reduces
negative impacts of climate change or takes advantage
of new opportunities that may be presented.6 This
includes activities taken before impacts are observed
and after impacts have been felt.7 Adaptation
is essential to reduce the damages from climate

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KNOWLEDGE BRIEF

change that cannot be avoided. It involves making
adjustments in our decisions, activities and thinking
because of observed or expected changes in climate.8
It is important to note that adaptation and mitigation
actions have the same ultimate goal: to reduce
negative consequences of climate change. Mitigation
without adaptation will not prepare communities for
inevitable changes, and adaptation without mitigation
will eventually lead to conditions where adaptation is
inconvenient, expensive, or impossible.9

Mitigation Can Combine Adaptation
"The simple act of planting or protecting trees
helps communities with mitigation by sequestering
carbon from the atmosphere while providing
adaptation benefits by helping communities cope
with heatwaves, or increased storm water run-off
with the additional benefits of increasing aesthetics."

There are several noteworthy processes of adaptation
planning that are recommended for, or can be utilized
by rural communities.18, 19, 20 The Basin CACCI initiative
building off of its early experiences using a six-step
approach within communities found that a more
streamlined process undertaken over a shorter period
of time can be implemented to the satisfaction of the
community.21 A four-step streamlined approach for rural
communities has since been utilized and recommended
by other regions within Canada and is outlined below:

The City of Kelowna’s 2010-2016 “Neighbourwoods”
program, a residential planting initiative to
encourage citizens to plant more trees on private
land by offering a purchase discount led to the
planting of over 2,500 trees within the community.10
For more information on the climate adaptation
benefits of urban forests see the resource:
Urban Forests: A Climate Adaptation Guide11

While mitigation is a global challenge, adaptation is
a more local issue as impacts of climate change will
be different for every community. The BC provincial
government has a climate change adaptation strategy
that recognizes local governments as important decisionmakers with respect to climate adaptation.12
As most rural Canadian communities are economically dependent on their surrounding environments
the impacts from climate change will create substantial
challenges for the well-being of rural residents and communities.13 Further, rural communities tend to be more
vulnerable to climate change because they typically have
fewer resources and fewer alternatives than urban areas.14
Therefore, it is important that rural communities take the
necessary steps towards climate change adaptation.

THE PROCESS OF ADAPTATION
The ultimate goal of adaptation is to reduce risk
associated with a changing climate. While this goal is
shared among communities, the process of adaptation

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will be different, reflecting each community’s unique
experiences. Experiences from within the Basin, other
regions of Canada and other countries show no single
formula for climate change adaptation will work in all
places.15, 16 Adaptation is place-based and the needs of the
community, local priorities identified through community
engagement, and best available science, should be
brought together to inform a community’s approach.17

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

1. GET STARTED
The first step involves building public, political and staff
awareness and support of climate change adaptation and
establishes the local context for the process. It involves:
•

Establishing adaptation champions and identifying
community stakeholders to engage in and support
the process;

•

Determining the geographic boundaries and
timeframes to be considered in the process;

•

Gathering local community and scientific
knowledge to understand the impact of previous
weather events and future climate projections for
the area; and

•

Establishing an approach on how to assess climaterelated risks and opportunities to inform priority
establishment.

2. ASSESS RISKS & OPPORTUNITIES
The second step brings stakeholders together to identify,
analyze, and prioritize the range of potential risks and
opportunities. It involves:
•

Identification of potential climate-related impacts
on community impact areas (e.g., wildfire, flooding,
water availability, agriculture, tourism);

•

Assessing community exposure within impact
areas through the use of stakeholder perceptions,
vulnerability, and risk assessments; and

•

Creation of a list of prioritized risks and
opportunities that denote currently acceptable
risks and opportunities and those that require
immediate action.

planning is an iterative process and a community will
learn by doing.24 Priorities may change over time, key
people may leave, and other challenges will impede the
process. Communities need to approach adaptation
planning in their own way, and in some instances
municipalities may choose to incorporate climate change
adaptation policies or infrastructure upgrades without
engaging a public planning process.25

RURAL CHALLENGES TO ADAPTATION
The process of adaptation is not without challenges. While
many challenges are shared by communities of all sizes,
rural communities face unique challenges. The following
are common challenges identified from rural experiences
in climate change adaptation:
•

Climate change is a complex and controversial
subject matter around which to build awareness and
support.26, 27 Some residents may not acknowledge
climate change is a serious problem and not perceive
it as a threat to their communities.28, 29

•

Specialized climate science resources and expertise
are required to complete research and can be difficult
to obtain.30 Climate data, particularly projections, can
be confusing and difficult to communicate simply and
effectively.31, 32, 33

•

Political knowledge of climate change adaptation
planning can be limited.34 Local government’s often
prioritize their focus on immediate and short-term
issues over planning strategically for the long term. 35 – 41

•

The necessity to engage the community and
collaborate with a wide range of actors can slow down
the process of planning and implementation.42, 43

•

Rural communities often face a shortage of human
capacity and staff often have little time to devote to
new initiatives.44, 45, 46

•

Communities face budget constraints for a number
of pressing issues and a lack of provincial and federal
funding allocated to responding to risks arising from
climate change adds to their inability to act. 47 – 50

3. FORMULATE ACTIONS
The third step involves identification and selection of
actions to manage priority risks and opportunities to
inform climate adaptation planning. It includes:
•

Compiling an inventory of actions needed to
manage priority risks and opportunities;

•

Evaluating the actions based on their anticipated
effectiveness, feasibility, acceptability, equitability,
and flexibility; and

•

Assembling information (costs, timelines,
responsible department(s) or organization(s)) on
the most promising actions to support decisionmaking for implementation.

4. PLAN, IMPLEMENT & REVIEW
The next step for a community is to draft its plan and
develop a blueprint for integrating adaptation into
existing and future municipal plans, strategies, policies,
programs, practices, and budgets. A major component of
this step is:
•

Establishing a process to monitor, evaluate
progress, and periodically update the plan to
account for new information and developments.

Successful adaptation does not mean that the impacts of
climate change will not be felt within a community, only
that the impacts will be less severe than what would be
experienced had no adaptation occurred.23 Adaptation

KNOWLEDGE BRIEF

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

Overcoming these barriers is possible and the Climate
Change Adaptation Part II: Challenges of Climate
Change Adaptation in Rural Communities Knowledge
Brief addresses these challenges and provides examples
of how to overcome some of these challenges.

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

REFERENCES & RESOURCES
1.

Columbia Basin Trust. (2012). Climate Change, Impacts and Adaptation in the Canadian Columbia
Basin: From Dialogue to Action. Retrieved from
https://www.narccap.ucar.edu/doc/pubs/DialoguetoAction_Final_lo-res.pdf.

2.

Columbia Basin Trust -Communities Adapting to
Climate Change Initiative: http://adaptationresourcekit.squarespace.com/overview/.

3.

Picketts, I. M., Curry, J., & Rapaport, E. (2012).
Community Adaptation to Climate Change: Environmental Planners' Knowledge and Experiences
in British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning (14:2), 119-137.

4.

Picketts, I. M. (2010). Briefing Note 2010-20: Climate
Change Adaptation Expertise and BC Planners.
Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. Retrieved
from: http://pics.uvic.ca/sites/default/files/
uploads/publications/Climate%20change%20
adaptation%20expertise%20and%20BC%20planners%20.pdf.

5.

Rogner, H. H., Crabbé, P., Edenhofer, O., Hare, B.,
Kuijpers, J., & Yamaguchi, R. (2007). Mitigation,
Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change. Cambridge University Press.

6.

Canadian Institute of Planners. (2011). Climate
Change Adaptation Planning: A Handbook for Small
Canadian Communities.

7.

Natural Resources Canada. (n.d.). Adaptation 101:
What is Adaptation? . Retrieved from http://www.
nrcan.gc.ca/environment/impacts-adaptation/
adaptation-101/10025.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Lemmen, D. S., Warren, F. J., Lacroix, J., & Bush,
E. (2008). From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada
in a Changing Climate. Government of Canada.
Retrieved from: http://adaptation.nrcan.gc.ca/
assess/2007/index_e.php.
Swart, R., & Raes, F. (2007). Making integration of
adaptation and mitigation work: Mainstreaming
into sustainable development policies. Climate
Policy (7:4), 288-303.
City of Kelowna. (n.d.). Kelowna NeighbourWoods
Program. Retrieved from http://www.kelowna.ca/
CM/page2205.aspx.
British Columbia Ministry of Community, Sport
and Cultural Development. (2010). Urban Forests:
A Climate Adapatation Guide. Retrieved from
www.retooling.ca: http://www.retooling.ca/_Library/docs/Urban_Forests_Guide.pdf.

12.

BC Ministry of Environment. (2010). Preparing
for Climate Change: British Columbia’s Adaptation
Strategy.

13.

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

14.

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

15.

Headwater Economics. (2012). Implementing Climate
Change Adaptation: Lessons learned from ten examples.
Retrieved from: http://www.sustainablecitiesinstitute.org/topics/climate-adaptation-and-resilience/
adaptation-planning/implementing-climate-changeadaptation-lessons-learned-from-ten-examples.

16.

Columbia Basin Trust. (2012b). Planning for Climate
Change. Retrieved from: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/
static/f/851718/11587715/1302796666660/FactSheetPlanningforClimateChangeFINALweb.pdf?token=M9B
Cyf1uqg0Nco%2BL8QoXRKiaJI0%3D.

17.

Columbia Basin Trust (2012b).

18.

Canadian Institute of Planners.

19.

ICLEI. (2016). Changing Climate, Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate
Adaptation.

20.

Columbia Basin Trust (2009). Planning for Climate
Change.

21.

Columbia Basin Trust (2013). Looking Back to Look
Forward: Think Tank Summary.

22.

Climate Resilience Express. (2016). Climate Resilience
Express - An Action Kit for Alberta Communities.

23.

Lemmen, D. S., Warren, F. J., Lacroix, J., & Bush, E.
(2008). From Impacts to Adaptation: Canada in a
Changing Climate. Government of Canada. Retrieved
from: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/environment/resources/
publications/impacts-adaptation/reports/assessments/2008/10253.

24.

ICLEI. (2016). Changing Climate, Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for Municipal Climate
Adaptation.

25.

Laurie, M., Roussin, R., Gosal, K., Ockenden, G., (2010)
Columbia Basin Trust CACCI Discussion Paper.

26.

Canadian Institute of Planners. (2010). Climate Change
Planning: Case Studies from Canadian Communities.

27.

Rescan Environmental Services Ltd. (2012). Prairies
Regional Adaptation Collaborative: Advancing Climate
Change Adaptation in Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan
Watershed Authority.

28.

Davidson, D. J., Williamson, T., & Parkins, J. R. (2003).
Understanding climate change risk and vulnerability
in northern forest-based communities. Canadian
Journal of Forest Research, 2252-2261.

29.

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.

30.

Canadian Institute of Planners. (2010).

31.

Canadian Institute of Planners. (2010).

32.

Matthews, D., Tesluk, J, Piggot, G., &
Sydneysmith, R. (2011). Terrace Community
Report: Climate Change Adaptive Planning for
Northwest Skeena Communities.

33.

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.

34.

Picketts, I. M., Curry, J., & Rapaport, E. (2012).
Community Adaptation to Climate Change:
Environmental Planners' Knowledge and
Experiences in British Columbia, Canada.
Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning
(14:2), 119-137.

35.

Canadian Institute of Planners. (2010).

36.

Town of Windsor. (2012). Municipality Climate Change Adaptation Case Study Report.

37.

ICLEI. (2016). Changing Climate, Changing Communities: Guide and Workbook for
Municipal Climate Adaptation.

38.

Lemmen, D. S., Warren, F. J., Lacroix, J., &
Bush, E. (2008).

39.

Rescan Environmental Services Ltd. (2012).
Prairies Regional Adaptation Collaborative:
Advancing Climate Change Adaptation in
Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan Watershed
Authority.

40.

Rescan Environmental Services Ltd. (2012).

41.

Columbia Basin Trust. (2011). Columbia Basin
Case Studies: Final Report.

42.

Clean Air Partnership. (2012). Accelerating
Adaptation in Canadian Communities.

43.

Columbia Basin Trust. (2011).

44.

Canadian Institute of Planners. (2010).

45.

Black, C. (2008). Climate Change and Environmental Planning: Best Practices for Rural
Communities Canadian Institute of Planners.
Retrieved from https://www.cip-icu.ca/Files/
Resources/Fellowship2-C-BLACK.

46.

Climate Resilience Express. (2016). Climate
Resilience Express - An Action Kit for Alberta
Communities.

47.

Canadian Institute of Planners. (2010).

48.

Town of Windsor. (2012). Municipality Climate Change Adaptation Case Study Report.

49.

Municipality of Cumberland. (2012). Municipality Climate Adaptation Case Study Report.

50.

Patino, L. (2010). Understanding Climate
Change Adaptation and Adaptive Capacity.
Government of Canada.

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

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