September 2000 Workshop:
A Northern Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change
Workshop Summary
The workshop, A Northern Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change: Defining our Knowledge Base and Research Priorities, held September 20-21, 2000, brought together government, community representatives, practitioners and researchers from across the north. The workshop was designed to provide feedback to the project team to assist with reviewing the state of information, and the organization of information, on climate change impacts in northern Canada.
This was a very challenging workshop, especially when we discussed how to incorporate climate change considerations into decision making in northern communities. Despite the challenges, workshop participants developed encouraging and forward-looking recommendations that will assist the project team in providing a product from this project that is of greater value to its users.
Based on comments received at the workshop on "what our information system should do" we will:
- Formalize a way in which new records and information can be added to the system (i.e. add a form on to the website)
- Provide regular updates to let communities know when new relevant information is available, when new info posted on website or added to database, and provide some means for non-electronic distribution of information
- Formalize a system where communities can look for non-documented sources of information and discuss new issues/current events
- Record case studies of what communities in the north are doing to respond to impacts of climate change
- Provide checklists of climate-related considerations for communities i.e. decision support tools or a resource guide for communities to aid in long-range planning exercises
- Keep track of information needs, and formalize a system to document and distribute
- Expand current NCE mailing list to a discussion list to assist those who are looking for non-documented sources of information, to solicit feedback on current events and significant issues
- List community observations on website based on NCE summer community tour to assist in matching community questions to researchers and to assist communities with similar issues to get in touch with each other
- Provide an opportunity to keep track of questions people have related to climate change that they have not been able to find information on
- Include recommendations for policy mechanisms within the final report
- Include case studies or pilot projects that describe how northern communities that are developing or implementing adaptation strategies
Based on comments received at the workshop on "what our report should do" we will
- Include guidance on "what we should be doing" re adaptation and prevention
- Describe the state of knowledge by sub-regions (traditional territory) as well as by natural and human systems
- Provide a list of codes, standards and regulatory processes in place in the north where climate change should be considered (i.e. DAP)
- Provide a list of where we need to regain monitoring capacity and on what
- Identify collaborative research opportunities