The Objectives of the Launch Event

• Introducing the Report and engage a wide range of audience with the content, findings, and recommendations in the article.

• Enabling dynamic dialogues among high level policy makers and actors on the key recommendations of the report.

• Sharing appreciation for the great work of all authors and contributors.

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Event Sponsors:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overview of the Agenda and Confirmed Speakers

 

 

Day 1 October 28th                9:00am - 12:00 pm Pacific Time

 

Co-hosts opening (@ 9:00am)

Sahar Safaie, Disaster and Climate Resilience Specialist, Sage On Earth Consulting 

Nicky Hastings, Geohazards Risk Project Lead, Natural Resources Canada​

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Welcoming remarks from Natural Resources Canada (Project Lead and Co-sponsor of event) (@ 9:05am)

Sonia Talwar, Director, Natural Resources Canada

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Panel 1. Governance of understanding and managing disaster and climate risk  (@ 9:10am)

The systemic nature of disaster and climate risk requires many different players to manage each type of risk. But due to a lack of clarity on mandates and commonly agreed methods and approaches, at times there are overlapping activities with outputs that are not comparable or compatible in the same jurisdiction or neighboring jurisdictions.

Theme 1: Develop strategies that outline the imagined future and are accompanied by action plans with measurable targets, timelines, and accountability.

Theme 2: Shift from reactive to proactive governance and financing.

Theme 4: Redesign governance mechanisms to merge disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, recognizing commonalities particularly between risk mitigation and climate adaptation.

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Chair: Sahar Safaie, Disaster and Climate Resilience Specialist, Sage On Earth Consulting 

Speakers:

Matthew Godsoe, Director, Public Safety Canada

Kathryne Forge, Executive Lead - Disaster Risk Reduction, Emergency Management BC

Caroline Jackson, Director, Climate Action, Natural Systems and Biodiversity, District of North Vancouver

Lori Daniels, Professor, Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, University of British Columbia

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Resilience Pathways Report - The story of its design, objectives, and expected outcomes (@ 10:05am)

Sahar Safaie, Disaster and Climate Resilience Specialist, Sage On Earth Consulting 

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Setting the context - Past, present, and future of disaster and climate risk in BC and Canada (@ 10:15am)

The result of climate change impacts combined with the growth of population and physical assets (buildings and infrastructure) is a substantial increase in disaster and climate risk, unless forward-looking measures are applied—especially related to land-use decisions for where the new assets will be placed.

Speakers:

Murray Journeay, Emeritus, Natural Resources Canada

Kari Tyler, User Engagement and Training Specialist, Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium (PCIC) 

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Panel 2.  Understanding risk and planning for resilient infrastructure (@ 10:30am)

Few key points from the report:

• The roles and responsibilities are not clearly understood across CI partners, stakeholders, and First Nations. Although different delivery models across regions might be needed to address the specific situation, the cluttered organizational landscape makes it difficult to advance common CI priorities and resilience goals and creates conflicting advice for CI owners and operators.

• A clear framework that supports results and accountability could help ensure that a focused direction exists, objectives are achieved for public and private sector investments, and efforts to enhance the security and resilience of CI are measurable. Canada currently does not have a national results-based framework in place that effectively measures the collaborative, non-regulatory efforts to achieve CI objectives, as set out in the National Strategy for Critical Infrastructure and supporting action plans.

• With climate change impacts, the current practice of using historical data is no longer valid. There is a need for developing event scenarios with future climate data to acknowledge the range of uncertainty from the new realities of climate change, evolving demands on infrastructure, and technology advancement.

• Local governments and First Nations are essential to identifying and implementing projects that respond to local needs while contributing to regional, provincial, and federal prosperity. However, local governments often lack the resources and expertise to deliver productive and sustainable infrastructure in a cost-effective and timely fashion. Local budgeting processes currently fail to require accounting for future demands for infrastructure upgrades and replacement. 

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Chair: Jeff O'Driscoll, Infrastructure Division Manager, Associated Engineering 

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Speakers: 

Ryan Schwartz, Director, Resilient Infrastructure, Public Safety Canada

Michelle Revesz, Integrated Sewer and Drainage Planning Branch Manager, City of Vancouver

Mike Guité, Manager, Transmission Asset Planning, BCHydro

 

Meet & Greet the Authors: An interactive discussion with authors on various topics (@ 11:30am)

Small group break out rooms on various topics to discuss the content of different articles with the authors and contributors.

The topics for Day 1:

1.1 Hazards overview

1.2 Snow Avalanche

1.4 Volcanoes

1.7 Earthquakes

2.1 Risk Mitigation for Critical Infrastructure 

2.3 Risk and Resilience Approaches in Electrical Facilities

4.1 & 4.2 Risk Dynamic & Social Vulnerability

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End (@ 12:00pm)

 

Day 2 October 31st     9:00am - 12:00 pm Pacific Time

 

Co-hosts opening (@ 9:00am)

Sahar Safaie, Disaster and Climate Resilience Specialist, Sage On Earth Consulting 

Shane Thompson, National Practice Lead, Strategic Advisory Services, Associated Engineering

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Welcoming remarks from Associated Engineering (Co-sponsor of the event) (@9:05)

Shane Thompson, National Practice Lead, Strategic Advisory Services, Associated Engineering

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Opening Remarks - Healthy built environments and our common pathway forward for achieving that  (@ 9:10am)

Former Chief Patrick Michell of the Kanaka Bar Indian Band and resident of Lytton, BC

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Panel 3. Whole of society approach with equity lens in disaster and climate risk management (@ 9:20am)

Disasters almost always disproportionately impact the most vulnerable people. The most vulnerable people in Canada are seniors, Indigenous people, low-income residents, those with low literacy levels, transient populations, people with disabilities, medically dependent persons, children and youth, women, new immigrants, and cultural minorities. Our society is only as strong as our most vulnerable. It is critical to ensure disaster and climate risk measures address systemic inequalities within the sphere of their impact.

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Chair: Maya Gislason, Associate Professor, Health Equity, Simon Fraser University (SFU)

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Speakers:

Johanna Wagstaffe, Journalist/Meteorologist/Seismologist, CBC News

Katia Tynan, Manager, Resilience and DRR, City of Vancouver

Lilia Yumagulova, Resilience Specialist/Program Director, Preparing Our Home​

Robin Cox, Professor & Director of Resilience By Design Lab, Royal Roads University

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Panel 4. ​Local governments and First Nations’ priorities, capacities, and needs for financial and technical resources (@ 10:10am)

It is critical to employ long-term measurable targets for risk mitigation efforts and integrate risk management into development strategies, thereby ensuring that disaster and climate risk created from development is not outpacing our capacity to reduce risk and respond to residual risk.

Local governments have a political mandate to protect citizens, yet they often lack the financial resources to undertake disaster and climate mitigation projects. . . . [They] end up designing their risk mitigation efforts based on the available provincial and federal funding programs versus their own risk-informed and objective-based risk management plans.

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Chair: Sahar Safaie, Disaster and Climate Resilience Specialist, Sage On Earth Consulting 

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Speakers:

Former Chief Patrick Michell of the Kanaka Bar Indian Band and resident of Lytton, BC

Twyla Kowalczyk, Climate Resilience Specialist, Associated Engineering, Alberta

Matt Osler, Senior Project Engineer, City of Surrey, BC

Graham Watt, Manager of Strategic Initiatives / Flood Recovery at City of Grand Forks, BC

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Where should we take the Resilience Pathways Report? (@ 11:00am)

Open Discussion

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Closing remarks (@ 11:15am)

Malaika Ulmi, Program Manager and Subdivision Head at Natural Resources Canada

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Meet & Greet the Authors: An interactive discussion with authors on various topics (@ 11:30am)

Small group break out rooms on various topics to discuss the content of different articles with the authors and contributors.

The Topics for Day 2 :

1.3 Landslides

1.5 Wildfire

1.3 Coastal Flooding 

1.8 Riverine Floods

2.2 Social infrastructure

2.4 Seismic Design for functional recovery

3.1 Role of Media

3.2 Role of professional associations 

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End (@ 12:00pm)

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