Let's rip the band-aid off immediately and acknowledge that all planning work we are doing today and will be doing for the foreseeable future is climate adaptation planning. We are writing and implementing plans in a climate undergoing radical change, and we need to be prepared to handle increasingly unpredictable, more severe weather that affects communities and infrastructure, such as rainfall events, drought, heat, flooding, and wildfires, which threaten the communities we serve. We are seeing the real impacts of climate change now, and the terrifying future that is ahead of us. It will be a failure of the Planning profession not to act with urgency to protect human life and natural environmental systems. Planners have an ethical responsibility to act in the public interest, especially when decisions shape how communities respond to climate risks, regardless of how uncomfortable or unpopular those interests may be.
Living in a Polycrisis
Since the economic collapse of 2008, we have faced a barrage of crises that vie for our collective attention. It is not just the simultaneous occurrence of these catastrophic events that defines our time of ‘polycrisis’, but how they become entangled with one another. One recent crisis example is the threat to the Canadian economy and sovereignty posed by the current US Administration. As a result, we now have nation-building projects preparing to be fast-tracked through consultation and approval processes that many groups have worked tirelessly to establish. While some people and organizations see the fast tracking of projects as a major boon that can bring more people to the table, others have questioned what this means for rights holders impacted by these projects[1]. Even though these processes can benefit from changes that increase predictability and collaboration across jurisdictions and levels of government, they are critical to mitigating harmful environmental impacts and establishing benefits to local communities, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous.
We’re approaching two decades of being in polycrisis, creating a constant state of collective anxiety that can generate feelings of hopelessness. Fatalistic thoughts of “Why do anything if it’s too late?” or “What can I do as just one person?” feel valid in response to clickbait headlines that state it’s too late to stop climate change[2]. Decades worth of global efforts to raise awareness for climate action start to become stale and lose their impact. The rise of other more newsworthy events or crises takes up greater space in our psyche. Bad-faith actors try to steer narratives towards causes that serve their own personal interests. This all results in the declining public concern about Climate Change.
As Planners existing in an amorphous middle ground between political decision-makers, engineers, developers, and community voices, it can often feel difficult to assert the climate reality into the planning discourse. We attempt to establish ethical and just processes with the hopes of arriving at an outcome that addresses the multitude of issues we encounter. However, when a Council deems housing or economic development to be the top priority, attempts to implement a climate action that may compromise a future development project are met with strong resistance. How can we challenge or overcome these hurdles if we take on the responsibility of inserting climate adaptation into our planning frameworks?
Manitoba Wildfire Aerial Image. https://eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/imagerecords/154000/154531/manitobafires_amo_20250709_lrg.jpg
Story as Intermediary between Community and Crisis
A first step to establishing climate adaptation as a foundational element in planning work is to communicate with communities in accessible, relatable ways that acknowledge lived experiences and how they connect to our environment. When we are engaging with residents, stakeholders, and politicians, we are building a set of shared values and priorities, which allows for a space of storytelling that can help people understand how the world around them has changed. Using the devastating wildfires experienced across the prairies this summer as a recent example, it is not difficult to connect the months of smoke-filled air and images of nearby decimated forest with the importance of prioritizing wildfire protection.
Stories are a powerful tool that connect us to the real world and to our shared histories as people and citizens of place, helping bridge technical planning discussions with everyday community experience. Data can provide useful information, points in time that represent observation and correlation. Still, it is the stories behind those numbers and data points that allow us to understand the world around us and to connect us to one another. Shared stories about the increased costs of running air conditioning on hot days hit home far harder than points on a graph showing how much hotter it is getting.
When facing the climate crisis, stories also have the power to provide healing. They let us share our grief, our anger, allowing us to better understand our present. Story sharing can be a therapeutic process that enables community bonding, which opens us up to the shared experiences that shape our identities. The result of this work is the creation of a space where the climate crisis is integrated into decision-making. The philosopher Byung Chul-Han has this to say about the power of stories and narratives to shape how we navigate a crisis:
Crisis narratives help us to come to terms with catastrophic events by embedding them in meaningful contexts... By placing our sorrows under the narrative light, it takes away their oppressive facticity. They are absorbed by narrative rhythms and melodies. A story raises them above mere facticity. Instead of solidifying into a mental block, they liquefy in the narrative flow.
Climate Adaptation as Process
Successful climate adaptation in municipalities and communities can’t be a performative exercise, pushed into the corner and away from decision-making. It requires tangible changes in process. For example, an initiative that is being adopted in cities across Canada is the inclusion of a Climate Lens into decision-making frameworks that allow Councils to consider the implications of a project or development on climate strategies. The federal government has provided guidance for using this lens to assess the impacts of infrastructure projects[5], but there is an ability to apply it more broadly across all municipal decisions. In 2022, the Clean Air Partnership developed a tool to do just that, providing a preliminary, qualitative understanding of how a decision will affect or be affected by climate[6]. Planners can play a major role in ensuring these types of tools are implemented and championed, rather than a simple overlooked checkbox along a pathway to approval.
This will look different depending on the community scale. Larger cities likely have dedicated staff that measure and report on climate actions, climate risks, and climate resilience efforts, and Planners should support this work and integrate it into planning approvals. For smaller municipalities and indigenous communities that may lack resources to support climate adaptation or may be just starting to establish their own climate plans, establishing a simple and practical climate lens tool that works within existing decision-making frameworks should be a priority.
Manitoba Wildfire Photo. Image supplied by the Government of Manitoba.
Creativity, Courage, and Reconciliation
While making better and more informed decisions regarding climate impacts is one important component of foundational climate adaptation, communities need the inherent creativity and holistic view provided by Planning professionals. By the nature of our profession, we wear many different hats throughout the day. We are asked to participate in solving the myriad issues municipalities are facing and have a voice in the ever-changing discourse. Living in this polycrisis, we urge you to find solutions that address multiple priority areas at once, especially where climate resilience, housing needs, and community well-being intersect. Avoid the zero-sum thinking that often accompanies budgets and policy mandates. Prioritizing housing does not need to negate climate. Housing policies can prioritize climate resilience through both passive and active measures that address climate impacts. Neighbourhood policies can enhance active transportation routes and prioritize density around those areas while avoiding development in areas that are prone to flooding or other climate-related issues.
As part of our reconciliation journey, amplifying and supporting Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship initiatives will be vital to addressing many aspects of the climate crisis and advancing community-based climate adaptation. Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) are a demonstration of how conservation leadership can be placed back in the hands of Indigenous Communities who have carried out traditional land practices since Time Immemorial. Many Indigenous Communities are at the frontlines of climate change, facing wildfires, floods, and drought at an increasing frequency. It is vital to ensure communities have the resources they need to address these issues according to their knowledge and ways.
There is no “one size fits all” approach to the climate crisis.
We need processes that seek to connect tangible actions that go beyond performative measures. Local solutions that seek to build the capacity of people and communities and harmonize with their lived experiences will create the resiliency and flexibility needed to adapt to the climate crisis.
Looking towards the future, facing down expedited approvals and a building-at-all-cost mentality, we must ensure that our decision-making processes place climate adaptation as a foundational component. Planners need to be proactive in addressing the inevitable burden that will be placed on developers and municipalities to demonstrate their climate resilience in real and tangible ways. Share stories, use every tool you have at your disposal, build bridges between siloed groups, and leverage support wherever possible. Communities that show flexibility and prioritize holistic solutions, including collaboration across sectors in the face of the climate crisis, will be the ones that are best able to adapt to this new reality.