Work Package 1:

Disruptive ecological impact and connectivity

Partnering with the International Joint Commission’s Science Advisory Board and the Global Centre for Climate Change and Transboundary Waters.

The Climate Ready Communities and Transboundary Governance research cluster of the Global Centre on Climate Change and Transboundary Waters (GCTW) employs social science theories and mixed methods to assess and develop governance models that help communities prepare for climate change impacts. Work Package 1 will interface with that team as they examine governance and adaptation options for Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, as well as SN.

The research team develops knowledge by focusing on several transboundary Indigenous, U.S., and Canadian communities, resulting in the development of water governance assessment frameworks that incorporate data from hydroclimate modeling  and water quality research

Work Package 1 is led by PI Krantzberg, working with Co-Applicants Arain and Martin-Hill to explore the potential ecosystem impact of in-migration on lake regions. This will inform policy recommendations for all orders of government in planning for Climate migration to different regions in the Great Lakes region and beyond.

This work package will interact with communities in Ontario,, Toronto with GCTW, Hamilton  with GCTW, Mississauga with U of Toronto @ Mississaugaand Six Nations of the Grand River with GCTW.

We will engage First Nations communities, led by Marin-Hill, beginning with Six Nations of the Grand River, holding listening-sessions with Knowledge Keepers at the start of the project to help inform nonindigenous research, and in the last year of the project, determine areas of alignment and areas of divergence.

Research Questions.

  • Population.

    •What is the potential for climate migration to result in population growth in communities?

    •Is urban intensification able to assist with increased housing and other social services?

  • Infrastructur.

    Infrastructure.

    •How might drinking water and wastewater infrastructure be able to respond to increased hydraulic demand?

    •What financial tools are needed to update water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure?

  • Tools.

    •What do hydroclimate models predict in terms of adverse impacts to communities?

    •What land use planning tools would assist in accommodating climate migrants?

Methods

The methods to be used include:

•a blend of participatory survey instruments (for a broad demographic analysis of challenges),

•interviews with practitioners (to uncover potential explanations for dissensus) and

•focus groups (to further identify consensus) to ground our findings with intentional redundancies.