¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥

Forest fires, drought and flooding are among the many climate impacts experienced by communities all across ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥. Local planners face the constant challenge of creating effective adaptation strategies, but when should communities consider relocation and how do we plan for it?

For more information check out these resources:

• Understanding risk communication in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥’s municipalities

Transcript

Host: Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Land Use Podcast. My name is Aysha Wu with the ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ Land Institute. Today we'll be discussing planning for climate induced relocation.  But before we start, I would like to acknowledge the land that the university is situated on.

The ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥, its buildings, labs and research stations are primarily located on the territory of the Néhiyaw (Cree), Niitsitapi (Blackfoot), Métis, Nakoda (Stoney), Dene, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and Anishinaabe (Ojibway/Saulteaux), lands that are now known as part of Treaties 6, 7 and 8 and homeland of the Métis. The ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ respects the sovereignty, lands, histories, languages, knowledge systems and cultures of all First Nations, Métis and Inuit nations.

Every year, communities all across ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ are impacted by extreme weather events caused by climate change. There are various programs in place to help communities adapt to extreme weather, but there is one underutilized adaptation that may be the best option for some communities.

Nicole Bonnett is joining me today to talk about her research on climate induced relocation. So thank you so much for joining me, Nicole. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Nicole: I sure can but first of all, thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to be here. So I am a PhD candidate in my fifth and hopefully my last year at the urban and regional planning program here at the university. It's been a really interesting journey for me. It's been super amazing thus far and I really do love what I research. 

So I study local government planning for climate induced relocation, which I think moving forward we'll just refer to it as relocation. And I look at this in five different case study communities all across Canada in five different provinces and territories.

So I'm conducting all of my research out of the Climate Adaptation and Resilience Lab or CARL for short, we love that acronym, and that is all under the supervision of Dr. Jeff Birchall. I think our lab is really dynamic and it's super fun and it kind of reflects this interdisciplinary nature of climate change and planning at the same time. We've got some students, like myself, that are looking at relocation, we've got others that are looking at more so like the intersection of public health and climate change, and then we've got some that are looking at attachment to place and climate resilience. And it really is just, we're looking at it from so many different angles and climate change is such a complex topic that it requires this investigation from multiple different angles.

Host: Yeah. And it sounds like it really requires buy-in from a lot of different sectors. So kind of just to start off, would you be able to explain what climate induced relocation is? 

Nicole: Yes, and that is such a fun topic that I always get. Relocation is so hard to define. There's not one single universal agreed-upon definition of relocation in the literature. I mean, why would it be that simple? And that is because it's really diverse. But if we're just speaking broadly, a really simple definition of relocation is the physical movement of homes, infrastructure, assets and individuals out of these hazard prone areas and into safer, more suitable locations.

Now, as I mentioned, it is diverse. So that can include things like maybe you're just moving a couple of really vulnerable homes out of the flood plane, or at the same time relocation can also refer to the movement of, say, an entire community out of the coast, away from the coast and into more suitable inland sites.

Host: You know, that's actually a lot more complex than I would have assumed. Like when I hear relocation I would kind of just think people. But when you're talking about infrastructure and things like that like that's, you know, that's really involved. That's a lot of time. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of resources.

Nicole: Oh, it really is. And not only is it like diverse in the size, but there's also temporal aspects. Like some individuals would refer to temporary relocation, like evacuations that could be a form of relocation. It could be permanent, you could be moving within one community, or you could be moving internationally like some of these small island developing states in, say, the Pacific Ocean. If their island is going to eventually be submerged, where are they going to relocate to? It has to be international. So, diverse, yeah. Needless to say, it is. It is indeed.

Host: So in your research, you're looking at relocation as one of a number of different climate adaptations. Why is it less utilized than other ones?

Nicole: That's a really good question. And you know, I was first intrigued by relocation when I was doing my masters and I was looking at adaptation planning, how it's incorporated into planning tools and policy in Vancouver Island. And I was doing a literature review and I noticed that relocation was always referred to as a last resort, a really controversial option, it is such an extreme approach to adaptation and I was like, whoa. That's kind of fun. Let's do a deeper dive into that.

And I think there is a lot of political, I mean, uncertainty surrounding relocation. There's a lot of social issues tied to it. It is so costly, it is not the cheapest adaptation, it is not the quickest adaptation. There's a lot of different factors that go into planning for relocation, and I think that that's why it's scary. It's also scary because you're moving people out of their homes, away from communities that they grew up in. Like this is a really, really touchy adaptation measure that requires very careful and rigorous planning. Otherwise we're going to see all of these negative outcomes emerge, which is not ideal.

Host: Absolutely. It's so hard, right? Like, if that's your home, it's hard to just pick up and leave without any sort of plan.

Nicole: No, exactly. And it's really that social, the cultural dimension of it, on one hand, but then from a political standpoint, trying to get individuals to buy into relocation is very, very challenging. Just as an example, following the 2013 flood, like the Bow River flood in Calgary, there was an initiative, so they rolled out a voluntary home buyout program which is essentially a tool that you can use to facilitate incremental relocation at a smaller scale, I guess. And the uptake in that, the buy in for that, but the participation was so limited that it was essentially scrapped. Interest in relocation is not always going to be great. In ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥, it might not work and you know what? That's fine. It doesn't have to be relocation. There are so many different options that you can pursue to reduce your vulnerability.

Host: Okay, So what are some of the other options?

Nicole: Oh, okay. So I like to break it down into structural, non structural and ecosystem based adaptations, but you can also break it down into protection, avoidance, accommodation and retreat. They're all essentially the same thing. But structural adaptations are kind of physically designed and constructed structures, and they're physically separating the residents, the infrastructure from the climate impact being faced. So an example of this would be a sea wall or it would be levees or dikes or sea gates, things like that.

Non structural adaptations are more so allowing for the continued occupation of these hazardous areas by reducing vulnerability through softer approaches. So this could include things like human behavior, early warning systems and planning. For example, I obviously love planning, but what you can do is you can use a set back, which is essentially a buffer. So here we're going to say this house is in a hazard prone area. You are not going to be allowed to develop right on the water. Instead we're going to set you back however many meters, depending on, I guess the severity of the flood risk. 

You can also use other tools like easements. A rolling easement for example, is a really fun one that you can use on the coast where it's kind of matching sea level rise, as an example. So as the water starts to encroach and it once it reaches that property line, that home will be turned over to the state or the city, and then typically they will demolish it and allow for that area to re naturalize. 

And then finally you've got ecosystem based adaptations which are kind of leveraging the adaptive opportunities that are associated with ecosystem services. That's kind of a confusing or weird definition, but as an example, wetlands can actually help to attenuate wave action. They can help with drainage and flooding. If you've got a bunch of green space with shrubs for example, that have long tap roots, they can help with erosion because they're helping to stabilize that bank, for example. 

Host: Interesting.

Nicole: Yeah, you can even use some species like muscles, apparently.

Host: Really?

Nicole: Yeah.

Host: So what are some situations then where relocation is a better option?

Nicole: Oh, this one is tricky because you can always use a combination of adaptations. It's not just one or the other, but I would say relocation is suitable in areas that are hit by repeat very costly, severe climate impacts and where essentially all other measures have failed or they are no longer suitable.

Just as an example, one of my case study communities is Tuktoyaktuk in Northwest Territories. Now they have been pursuing an adaptation agenda for over 40 years, I believe. And so they started out by investing in structural adaptations, which they still use to this day. They had some sea walls, they put some concrete slabs, they've armored their coastline and all of these measures have either been overtopped already by some of the wave action and the storms that are kind of pushing water up and over these structural adaptations. 

And at this point, they're like, well, what can we do? This is a small community that can't really use setbacks. They can't move their homes back or they can't prevent new development. It's already developed up. So here, relocation is the most suitable long term option for them. Climate impacts are worsening, their rates of erosion are just through the roof, there are honestly homes that are so close to slipping into the sea and these structural adaptations are not suitable anymore. So this is where relocation would be definitely the most suitable approach.

Host: That makes sense. So in an ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ context, what are some of the climate impacts that we are facing? 

Nicole: Ooh. Today is actually a perfect day to talk about this. So in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥, we are seeing warming temperatures and we're seeing an increase in the occurrence of these extreme hot days. Coincidentally, we actually have a heat warning and a severe weather alert for the Edmonton area. So any day where the temperature is near or above 30 degrees celsius is considered an extreme hot day. And this is actually super dangerous for our vulnerable populations in particular but it really is just a threat to the general public, the general resident. 

Now we're also seeing more variable precipitation and this can result in more severe drought conditions as we've seen in our summer months, but at the same time, it can also result in more frequent and more severe flooding events. Just as an example, in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥, from what I recall, Edson had experienced a flood last year and that was the result of very short duration, very intense precipitation. This storm was crazy. My sister actually lives in Edson and she sent me a video. It looked like a hurricane, the way that the rain was pattering the window and the wind was so severe that it pushed down trees, it pushed down power lines. So not only was there a flood but there were also power outages. 

And then that's a nice gateway into our final climate impact that we see in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥, but we also see more variable and frequent extreme weather. This can include things like thunderstorms, hail storms, freezing rain, which of course is a huge problem for Calgary and a lot of southern ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥n communities. 

Host: Yeah. And we really are getting that whole range, aren't we where we're dealing with drought and then somewhere else in the province at the exact same time, they're getting as severe rains and severe flooding, like you were saying. So you mentioned Tuktoyaktuk, but what are some examples of climate vulnerable communities in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥? 

Nicole: So we already mentioned the 2013 Bow River flood, so Calgary of course is super vulnerable to some of the impacts of climate change, particularly flood, extreme heat, hail. High River as well. Anything really in that Southern basin. But then Edmonton is vulnerable as well not to flood because we've got these really steep banks. But erosion is a concern for us, not so much, but more so it's the extreme heat here that we're seeing and wildfires. 

Speaking of wildfire, we've also got Fort McMurray. The Fort McMurray wildfire was the most expensive climate disaster that occurred in Canadian history, if I'm correct, and definitely in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥. But not only does Fort McMurray see wildfires, but they're also seeing flooding. They see a lot of flooding as a result of ice jams.

And then speaking of ice jams and melting snowpack, all of these communities, as we move west kind of in the Edson area, we talked about that as well. Edison is just in a crazy little weather pocket. I don't know how many times their residents have been evacuated in the last five years, not just as a result of wildfire, but as a result of flood. It's all over ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥. The weather is so variable, it is so extreme, the impacts are so diverse. But I would say every community has been hit in one way or another.

Host: So what is the primary goal of your research?

Nicole: The goal of my research is to contribute to the narrowing of a couple of different gaps. So when I was doing my systematic literature review for this research project, I collected 1,260 something articles. I narrowed that down to 192. My search terms were local government planning, climate induced relocation. Not one of those 192 research articles actually provided a comprehensive breakdown or outline of the local government planning process for relocation. And I was like, well, that’s weird. What are we doing here? Do we know what we're doing? And my interviewees have revealed that maybe we don't actually.

So I am trying to better understand how local planners and decision makers, the ones who are actually developing and implementing relocation, how do they perceive relocation? I'm trying to better understand how our existing local planning tools and our policy tools are enabling or constraining relocation, and finally, if and how relocation is incorporated into our local planning documents. It's really an understudied topic which I found very, very odd, because local governments are the ones that are planning for and implementing it.

Host: Yeah, for sure. It really does sound like there's quite a bit of a gap there. 

Nicole: Oh, for sure. 

Host: So what are some of your findings so far? 

Nicole: So I have got one data set that has been completely analyzed, the findings are published and then the other two are more so preliminary. So I mean I can speak to all of them, the analysis is done, but I haven't finished the writing process for it. The systematic literature review, as I mentioned, that was one of the key findings is there's not really a lot on the actual planning process. What are the steps that we are following in order to actually implement relocation on the ground? So that was one of the key gaps.

I also found that a gap was looking at local planning in the Canadian context and in the northern context in general, which is really interesting because a lot of these Arctic communities are the ones that are having to relocate. So what's going on there? This literature review if we're looking at it from more of a broad perspective and like, what is that main narrative running throughout, it's kind of telling us that local governments might currently be ill prepared to plan for and implement relocation. And this is supported by new scholarship coming out that shows that when we're trying to plan for relocation and when we're trying to implement it, we're still facing all of these different challenges. And if we actually finish it and we implement it in practice, negative outcomes often tend to emerge. And that is just not ideal. So we need to be doing better.

And that is where the, I guess, second data set comes in is well, what are we doing from a planning perspective? So I looked at 70 different local government, provincial, regional and federal strategic planning documents. I've got some policy documents, we've got some acts, climate adaptation strategies, some tools, programs. And I analyzed all of those things to look at if and how they're incorporating relocation. Now the systematic literature review showed that relocation is rarely incorporated into planning documents, but now my planned content analysis is actually showing no, I think we're starting to incorporate it. 

And so in these five case study communities that I have, I have found at least 15 different documents that directly incorporate relocation. So this is indicating that our vulnerable Canadian communities are starting to think about relocation. And it's not just Tuktoyaktuk, it's Abbotsford, Toronto, Halifax Regional Municipality, Calgary even actually has some planning documents that reference relocation. So those results are really interesting.

But while we are integrating relocation, it's not addressed in a super detail and granular manner. It's more so high level and kind of on the side, which makes sense at this point because we're just starting out, I think. And I've also found that there is limited policy direction and guidance on exactly what we need to do on the ground. So there's limited direction for these planners to follow and that has been reflected by my interviewees. 

So I had 35 different key actors that I interviewed using a semi structured approach across these five different communities. And what that has revealed is they agree that there is limited policy guidance. Some of them have expressed a little bit of confusion over what they're supposed to do when it comes to relocation, and they've also voiced some concerns over the funding opportunities for relocation, noting that it's kind of fragmented, there's not really a lot out there. And relocation is not cheap. They need more assistance, they need more guidance, they need more support.

Now when it comes to how they're perceiving relocation, I asked every single one of my interviewees the same kind of set of questions, and they were designed to be kind of like rapid fire, so first thing that comes to mind. And I would ask them, for example, what is the first thing that you think of when you hear the term relocation and some of them were definitely saying it's a last resort. One of my interviewees, this is not a direct quote, described relocation as surgical, noting that it's almost like you're cutting something off, which I found very interesting. 

Some of them, although, described it as critical and important, and that's particularly in communities where structural adaptations are starting to fail. So it's really interesting seeing a diversity of perceptions of relocation depending on where you are and what types of climate impacts are being faced. There's also, it appears thus far to be variation in responses according to political interests and priorities as well. We won't get too deep into that.

Host: Interesting. So what are some of the ways that relocation is starting to be talked about in planning?

Nicole: That's an interesting question because it really depends on the community itself. For communities like Tuktoyaktuk, where it is more urgent, it's kind of their last option. They're taking it very seriously. However, in other communities where maybe these climate stressors aren't as pressing, vulnerability isn't as extreme and as visible, relocation is almost a fail safe. So they're going to be trying a bunch of other different adaptation options, they've currently implemented this, relocation is there if needed if all of these other measures fail. 

So we're kind of at the point now where relocation is on the table. It's definitely not a strategic planning priority I would say for the most part, but it's something that's being acknowledged. It's something that is recognized as an actual adaptation strategy. Because in the past I would say at least 20 years ago there was this, I guess discussion in the literature. There was this debate going on whether or not relocation was an adaptation strategy or is it maybe a failure to adapt. So that was a really pressing narrative that was being pushed throughout the literature. And there was a lot of debate surrounding it and that kind of filtered into planning that filtered into political discourse. And now we're realizing that, yeah, you know what? It is an adaptation option.

And in fact, a lot of scholars are warning that relocation is our only viable and long term effective response to climate impacts. It really is the only way that we can remove exposure. And when we can remove exposure, then we can reduce or remove that risk altogether.

Host: Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, there's only so many ways that you can adapt if your community is going to end up underwater.

Nicole: Oh 100 per cent. Yeah.

Host: So what do you think are some ways that we could effectively plan for relocation?

Nicole: So one of the things that we can do is start integrating it into our planning tools. So that would be kind of a mainstreaming approach, making sure that relocation is integrated into our planning framework. And this helps to ensure that it aligns with a variety of different goals like environmental goals, social goals, infrastructure. And this just creates a really comprehensive response to, I guess, climate impacts being faced, but at the same time relocation is so complex that I would argue it requires its own plan. 

So this would be for example, a relocation plan for a local government. And this would just allow for more granular policies, more concrete direction on what are we actually doing in practice. Now it's not just having a broad strategic plan in place. You also need to have planning tools that you're going to use to implement it on the ground. There's a whole bunch of different tools that you can use. You can start out by prohibiting new development in these hazardous areas, which will help facilitate this incremental approach, you can use rolling easements like we talked about before, you can use voluntary home buy out programs, and it is important that they are indeed voluntary. We've tried that out in ¾ÅÐãÖ±²¥ as I mentioned and, you know what? That might not work and that's fine. There is a whole bunch of different things that you can do to facilitate this incremental approach away, you're moving these homes away from hazard prone areas. And planning tools is really where all the power lies. 

But if you want to look at it from a really broad perspective, you can break it down into a couple of different steps. So you would start out by identifying the climate impacts and the climate risk being faced. You would then evaluate the range of different adaptation options available. If relocation is the one that is selected, then we're going to move on to developing a plan of action. So we're going to start integrating relocation into our planning tools. We're going to be identifying what tools do we actually have to implement this in practice. How are we going to fund this? What can we do to increase buy-in from the residents? And then we move on to the implementation phase. And then finally there will be monitoring because the outcomes of relocation can be a little tricky. So it's really important that we monitor and we learn from that process.

Host: Yeah, it's going to be a bit of a trial and error, I would think because different things are going to work for different places.

Nicole: A hundred per cent and that's such an important point that you bring up. Relocation is not a one-size-fits-all solution. What works for Tuktoyaktuk is not going to work for Calgary. And this is why it is so, so important that communities themselves be the one leading this planning process for relocation. They have such a deep understanding of their context. They have an understanding of how climate impacts are affecting infrastructure residents, livelihoods, their cultural practices, etcetera, so they need to be the ones leading relocation. It can't be coming down from the top. We need a bottom up approach.

Host: How could other researchers build off of your research?

Nicole: Oh, to be honest, my PhD research project is just one project. This is just one study. I truly feel that this is a topic that needs more research. I think that we need a bunch of different scholars from different countries looking into local government planning for climate induced relocation. I mean, climate impacts are worsening, we know this. The amount of safe and habitable land is decreasing, so relocation is very, very likely going to increase in urgency moving forward in the near future. We need to know how to plan for it and, as it stands, we might be ill prepared. We need more research on this moving forward. We really do.

Host: So we are running out of time here, but before we wrap up, do you have any concluding thoughts or is there anything that you wanted to talk about that we didn't get to?

Nicole: I think one thing that I would say is we've already talked about how context matters and how this is not a one-size-fits-all type of adaptation solution, but I also think it's important to note that even if the literature is warning that relocation might be our only viable long term effective strategy to reducing climate vulnerability, that doesn't mean that that is the appropriate or the most suitable approach for your community.

Just as an example, Abbotsford is a community that is literally built in a dried up lake bed, so of course they are going to flood. It is so devastating, that atmospheric river that they experienced in 2019 was crazy. You would immediately think, well, they need to relocate out of there, they need to move but where are they going to move to? They are constrained by the border right south of them and then you've also got mountainous terrain. So what I'm trying to say is relocation is a critical adaptation strategy, but it is not, I guess, the end all. It is not going to be perfect, it's not going to be feasible for everybody.

Host: Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for joining me. Nicole, I really appreciate it.

Nicole: Thank you. This was fun. Thank you so much.