June 19, 2017

Workshop on Collaborating for Regional Resilience

Context

In May 2017, the Ontario Climate Consortium and Clean Air Partnership brought together adaptation practitioners for a workshop on “Collaborating for Regional Resilience.” Its purpose was to explore the role all levels of government and private industry can play in increasing resilience to extreme weather events at a regional scale. This workshop was hosted at York University in advance of the 2017 Ontario Climate Symposium.

About the Workshop

The workshop started with an update by Karen Clark, the Director of the MOECC’s Special Policy Branch, on the development of Ontario’s next adaptation plan. Following her presentation, an overview was provided on climate action that’s being led by upper and lower-tier municipalities in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). Specific examples were provided by the City of Toronto, Region of Durham, York Region, and the Clean Air Partnership. The presentations by these municipalities and organizations introduced the concept of interdependencies. In doing so, they provided a view of how GTHA municipalities and utilities are collaborating to identify and address interdependencies across governments and other sectors.

Following the presentations, the attendees split up into small group discussions to develop recommendations on how the transportation, telecommunications, and natural gas sectors can be engaged to improve regional resilience. The attendees also explored potential vulnerabilities in these sectors, how the vulnerabilities can be mitigated, and the benefits of addressing climate resilience on a regional scale. The local experts leading the breakout sessions included: Teresa Cline (York Region), Dave MacLeod (City of Toronto), Brian Kelly (Region of Durham), Steve Winkelman (Green Resilience Strategies), Tony D’Agostino (Rogers Communications), and Jeffrey Mazzei (Enbridge).

Next Steps

The Clean Air Partnership is developing a report based on the discussions that took place at the workshop. This report will be forwarded to the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change as input into the Provincial Climate Adaptation Strategy that is currently under development.