WARMER
WETTER
WILDER
In Atlantic Canada, climate change is expected to bring warmer average temperatures, higher sea levels, more extreme rainfalls and storm flooding, and more frequent and extreme storms.
These changes will have many impacts to the natural and built landscape. Flooding, erosion, habitat shifts, biodiversity reduction, and infrastructure damage are immediate threats to many communities putting people’s health and prosperity at risk.
How can landscape architects, designers, and planners respond to Atlantic Canada’s vulnerability and increase resilience through Green Infrastructure?
Green Infrastructure links people to landscape, and provides the spaces for nature-based ecosystem services to occur.
WHY
GREEN
INFRASTRUCTURE?
Green infrastructure (GI) is described as an interconnected network of natural areas that maintain and enhance natural ecological processes which benefit both people and nature.
As the effects of climate change and urban expansion become increasingly widespread, one of the best planning and design tools for both adaptation and mitigation strategies is Green Infrastructure. Green infrastructure includes the integration of technology, design, and natural systems to create climate-resilient responses to the Region’s landscape vulnerabilities.
Green infrastructure’s hybridized, ecologically-founded solutions are often higher-quality, lower-cost, more resilient, and more beneficial to society than maintaining, repairing, or replacing gray infrastructure. In order to maximize its potential, Green Infrastructure must now be viewed beyond stormwater management practices.
Green Infrastructure has a key role in Canada’s climate change strategy. Green infrastructure provides a favorable avenue for rethinking and remodeling Atlantic Canada’s matrix of
multi-functional landscapes.
THEMES
Resilient Landscapes in Atlantic Canada
Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) refers to methods of stormwater management that reduce wet weather and stormwater volume, impact, and flow while maintaining healthy water environments. GSI changes the characteristics of the water’s influence upon the landscape by reducing flooding and erosion and allowing the stormwater to infiltrate, to be treated by vegetation or by soils, or to be stored for reuse. Porous pavement, bioswales, sponge-parks, strategically designed wetlands, green-blue streets and other eco-engineering strategies improve landscape resilience, promote healthy community greenspaces, and strengthen economic growth.
Stormwater management with traditional grey infrastructure will be challenged by climate Canada’s extreme weather caused by climate change and growing urban populations. Changes and in temperature along with heaver and more frequent storm events mean the existing infrastructure and landscapes need to be better designed, managed, and modified. Both coastal and interior communities will be impacted.
Resilient Urbanisms in Atlantic Canada
Green Community Infrastructure (GCI) refers to methods of analysing and creating a diverse network of connected greenspaces within a community. In rural and urban landscapes, these diverse and unique green infrastructure assets include natural areas, forests, agricultural land, shorelines and wetlands, rivers and streams, parks, street trees, and other open spaces.
These greenspaces, both individually and together, provide an array of benefits to the people and communities through improved access and interaction, increased ecosystem services and ecological quality, biodiversity, and improved public health, social inclusion, and quality of life.
In Northern climates like Canada, Green Infrastructure provides versatile tools which can be applied in diverse urban and rural environments
Green Infrastructure links people to landscape, and provides the spaces for nature-based ecosystem services to occur.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Discover the current state of research, policy, and practice related to green infrastructure and natural assets in Atlantic Canada and elsewhere.
Explore evidence-based design and planning guidelines for green infrastructure at multiple scales.
Identify strategies and best practices for including green infrastructure.
Promote critical dialogue and encourage partnerships between government, university and private practice.
A strategic and integrated approach to planning for resilience is imperative for the Atlantic Provinces. Green Infrastructure is a part of the solution, offering an emerging set of landscape design ideas and technologies, based on ecological processes and multifunctionality for future rural and urban challenges.
The immediate need to address the combined effects of climate change has led to the creation and adoption of mitigation and adaptation policies and actions, which have recently been included on many agendas of policy and planning throughout Canada. In this context, landscape architecture has a critical role to play; it is emerging as one of the design implementation areas that can influence resiliency to climate change and integrate into other policy and strategic planning activities.
AGENDA
* Please note the agenda is still in development, sessions and timing are subject to change.
12:30pm - 1:00pm AST
Check-In for On-Site Screening
1:00 - 1:15
Keynote Address
Richard leBrasseur, GIPL
Green Infrastructure as a Design Framework for Connecting Landscapes to People
1:15 - 1:45
Keynote Speaker
Sabine Dietz, PhD
Executive Director, CLIMAtlantic
Climate Change and Green Infrastructure: Barriers and Opportunities
1:45 - 2:15
Robert France,
Dalhousie University
2:15 - 2:45
Ian Watson, Upland Consulting
Green Communities - Settlement and “Inherent” Green Infrastructure
2:45 - 3:05
Emilia Hurd, Brackish
Coordinating Green Infrastructure -
A Design toolkit
3:05 - 3:15
Break
3:15 - 3:35
Adam Cheeseman,
Nature New Brunswick
Municipal Nature Based Solutions
3:35 - 3:50
Amanda Marlin,
Executive Director, EOS Eco-Energy
EOS Eco-Energy’s Lessons Learned from Green Roof Projects
3:50 - 4:20
Vidya Anderson, PhD
University of Toronto, Climate Lab
Nature-based Solutions and
Multi-functional Green Infrastructure
4:20 - 4:50
Guillaume Grégoire, PhD
University of Laval, Jean Tremblay Chair in Vegetated Infrastructures
Identifying resilient plant species for green infrastructure in cold climate
4:50 - 5:00
Closing Remarks
Attendee Comments and Insights
Green infrastructure can a help natural systems adapt and cope with the evolving impacts of urban development and landscape change.
SPONSORS
HOSTS
Hosted by the
Green Infrastructure Performance Lab and
Dalhousie University's Landscape Architecture Program.
GIPL's research provides a better understanding of how human activities affect the landscape and studies it's interrelated elements in order to minimise future impacts - and maintain human and ecological health while serving critical ecosystem services to Canada and the world.
Landscape Architecture
Plant
Science
Managed Landscapes
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Green Infrastructure and the GIPL supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals by promoting an approach to land use that considers ecological based technical solutions. Landscape architecture has a critical role to play; it can influence sustainable climate resilience and integrate into other policy, planning & design activities.
PRESENTER VIDEOS
Keynote Address
Green Infrastructure as Connective Tissue
Dr. Richard leBrasseur
Director, Green Infrastructure Performance Lab
Conference Summary and Inspiration
Design as Adaptive Management
Dr. Richard leBrasseur
Director, Green Infrastructure Performance Lab
Keynote Speaker
Climate Change and Green Infrastructure:
Barriers and Opportunities.
Dr. Sabine Dietz
Executive Director, ClimATLANTIC, Inc.
Climateproofing NS Watersheds through Ecosystem Services of 'Giving Trees'
Dr. Dr. Robert France
Dalhousie University
Member, Green Infrastructure Performance Lab
Coordinating Green Infrastructure:
A Design Toolkit
Emilia Hurd
Brackish
Green Communities: Settlement and 'Inherent' Green Infrastructure
Ian Watson
Upland Planning + Design Studio
Municipal Nature Based Solutions
Adam Cheeseman
Director of Conservation,
Nature New Brunswick
Municipal Nature Based Solutions
Adam Cheeseman
Director of Conservation,
Nature New Brunswick
Lessons Learned from Green Roof Projects
Amanda Marlin
Executive Director,
EOS Eco-Energy Inc.
Lessons Learned from Green Roof Projects
Amanda Marlin
Executive Director,
EOS Eco-Energy Inc.
PRESENTER VIDEOS
Keynote Address
Green Infrastructure as Connective Tissue
Dr. Richard leBrasseur
Director, Green Infrastructure Performance Lab
Keynote Speaker
Climate Change and Green Infrastructure:
Barriers and Opportunities.
Dr. Sabine Dietz
Executive Director, ClimATLANTIC, Inc.
Coordinating Green Infrastructure:
A Design Toolkit
Emilia Hurd
Brackish
Municipal Nature Based Solutions
Adam Cheeseman
Director of Conservation,
Nature New Brunswick
Nature-Based Solutions and Multi-Functional Green Infrastructure
Dr. Vidya Anderson
Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks
and University of Toronto
Conference Summary and Inspiration
Design as Adaptive Management
Dr. Richard leBrasseur
Director, Green Infrastructure Performance Lab
Climateproofing NS Watersheds through Ecosystem Services of 'Giving Trees'
Dr. Dr. Robert France
Dalhousie University
Member, Green Infrastructure Performance Lab
Green Communities: Settlement and 'Inherent' Green Infrastructure
Ian Watson
Upland Planning + Design Studio
Lessons Learned from Green Roof Projects
Amanda Marlin
Executive Director,
EOS Eco-Energy Inc.
Identifying Resilient Plant Species for Green Infrastructure in Cold Climate
Dr. Guillaume Grégoire
University of Laval, Jean Tremblay Chair in Vegetated Infrastructures
THE GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE PERFORMANCE LAB
The Green Infrastructure Performance Laboratory
Director, Richard leBrasseur, PhD
Dalhousie University
Department of Plant, Food, and Environmental Sciences
20 Rock Garden Road, EE Building, Room 223
Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada B2N 5E3