Resilience Pathways Report: Co-creating new knowledge for understanding risk and resilience

“There is an urgency to take action to better manage disaster and climate risks. Recent disasters, such as Hurricane Fiona making landfall in Atlantic Canada and the 2021 heat dome, wildfires, and damaging floods in BC, have had devastating impacts and are serious warning signals of the negative impacts of climate change. These events further underscore the reality that there will be more events in the future that exceed historical events with greater magnitude, increased frequency, new locations, different timing, and new complexity. The experience of COVID-19 pandemic impacts and responses has taught us firsthand how disasters are complex events with intertwined and cascading impacts across systems in our society. We must manage risks from natural, biological, and technological hazards, and the impacts of climate change, in a comprehensive and collaborative manner across all sectors and at all levels to build a resilient future. Success in this endeavor requires the whole of society to first understand the risks, including the drivers and interdependencies, and know their role in collaboratively managing these risks.” - Summary for Policy Makers, Resilience Pathways Report

Associated Engineering is co-sponsoring a virtual launch event for the Resilience Pathways Report with Natural Resources Canada, on October 28th and 31st. We invite practitioners, researchers, policy makers, and decision makers in various fields to attend, who can and are taking action for reducing disaster risk and adapting to climate change impacts in public and private sectors. Registration is free, click here for more details.

The Resilience Pathways Report convened and connected more than 70 experts from a wide range of institutions and disciplines sharing a wealth of knowledge and strategic insights about disaster and climate risk management. The report highlights successes, challenges, and gaps and provides recommendations for the path forward in enhancing disaster and climate risk management approaches.

The report consists of a Strategic Summary for Policymakers and 18 short and easy to read articles under four chapters:

Chapter 1: Understanding and Managing Climate and Disaster Risk: Hazard Threat
Chapter 2: Climate and Disaster Risk Management: Practice
Chapter 3: Climate and Disaster Risk Management: Enabling Action
Chapter 4: Climate and Disaster Risk Management: Research

Although most of the articles are focused on BC, they share knowledge on risk management issues that are not only unique to BC, and the identified challenges and recommendations can have relevance across Canada and in other countries.

Resilience Pathways was funded by the Canadian Safety and Security Program and led by Natural Resources Canada. Sahar Safaie of Sage on Earth Consulting designed the initiative and supported the authors throughout the process, including technical review of the articles. We are pleased to share that Sahar is now collaborating with the Strategic Advisory Services team at Associated Engineering, and supporting clients in assessing and managing disaster and climate risk through designing effective policies and innovative engineering, social, and environmental solutions.

For further information on the Resilience Pathways Report and the launch event, please contact Sahar at safaies@ae.ca.