MES Major Papers

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10315/28142

Browse

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7

Open Access
Bolstering Ontario Land-Use Planners’ Adaptive Capacity for Resilient Climate Change Adaptation through Education
(2020) Osei-Akoto Brown, Veronica-Keren; Winfield, Mark
For many land-use planners across the province of Ontario, the region that my research examines, the issue has been raised that the adaptive capacity required to effectively and efficiently implement the climate change adaptation strategies and policies that they have been mandated to employ is lacking. Even though the tools and resources are there in abundance, the ability to implement such strategies and policies has been recognized to depend on land-use planners’ understanding of the climate issue at hand and the number of accessible human and technological resources . This is the central argument of this paper. As such, I use this research opportunity to explore how to bolster the adaptive capacity of Ontario’s land-use planner in these ways for a better response to the challenge that climate warming poses. I begin with a brief history of the climate change regime, along with a brief explanation of the climate science behind the warming. I then proceed to discuss the role land-use planning plays in contributing to climate warming, how it can redirect its efforts to reduce our carbon footprint, the challenges land-use planners face when tasked to implement adaptation strategies and how it can be solved through the bolstering of their adaptive capacity using the resilience framework. This is followed by a discussion on the work that the province of Ontario is doing through the BRACE Project to help bolster the adaptive capacity of the land-use planner. Through this research, my objective is to highlight the gap that currently exists in our adaptation efforts where those we depend on to implement these climate change adaptation strategies are lacking in their ability to carry out the work due to their lack of climate change adaptive capacity and how to bolster this through a resilience framework that presents us with a solution – education.
Open Access
Ecosystem Service Payments as a Climate Solution: an examination into Successful Aspects of Ecosystem Service Payment Policy Programs
(2023-08-31) Dworatzek, Peri; Winfield, Mark
The purpose of this research was to examine ecosystem service payment policy programs that take the form of tax-incentive programs. Various Canadian programs were examined to gain insights into program successes and/or challenges. A great deal of academic literature looks at the ecosystem service payment policy of individual programs, yet few compare multiple programs. This research addresses this gap, as it compares multiple programs across various regions. A qualitative methodological approach was used, whereby professionals with expertise in ecosystem service payment programs were interviewed. Programs were evaluated based on the following criteria: some measurable indicators of success, impacts on broader public policy and the political context, and recognition of social-power relations. The ecosystem service payment policy programs examined through this research study included: the Canadian Ecological Gifts Program; the Manitoba Riparian Tax Credit Program; the Ontario Conservation Land Tax Incentive Program; and the Ontario Managed Forest Tax Incentive Program. An Ecological Economics approach was applied by examining improved ways of increasing conservation lands through regulatory market-based public policy programs. Overall, the examination of social-power relations in these programs provided an original and thoughtful approach. The final analysis and evaluation found that the programs typically had some measurable indicator of success and a broader impact on public policy and the political context, yet the programs did not always acknowledge social power relational issues. Taking the evaluation and analysis of these programs, I provided four recommendations for future PES policy programs in Canada. First, to provide a standardized form of measurement for the programs, to increase transparency, to include Indigenous consultation in the policy-making process, and to provide avenues for knowledge sharing about ecosystem services and payment for ecosystem service programs.
Open Access
Environmental Education In India: Analysis Of National Curriculum And Pedagogical Approaches
(2020) Bhatia, Nitima; Dippo, Don
India, being a fast-growing major world economy and home to one-sixth of the world’s population, has a significant impact on the consumption of natural resources. As a result, it produces a huge amount of carbon emissions even though per capita emissions are low in the country. Hence, it is very important that current and future Indian generations not only understand the value of sustainable development but also incorporate it into their daily life. Education has a key role in developing that understanding and, therefore, it becomes important that pedagogical approaches commonly employed in Indian schools align well with the country’s development agenda and its sustainability goals. The curriculum documents are important in providing direction to the teaching practices and guiding educators to provide students with the best learning opportunities. This study examines the position of SDGs within the Indian environmental education curriculum and effective pedagogical approaches that enhance understanding in young minds and help enable them to follow and adopt the path of sustainable development. The study involves a two-stage evaluation design involving document analysis and critical literature review. Findings of the study reveal that the EE curriculum consists of concepts that provide knowledge about some SDGs at the elementary level, however, several SDGs are not well represented in the curriculum. The concept of sustainable development needs to be more deeply placed within the curriculum. Findings from the analysis of the literature review show that EE is implemented through three pedagogical approaches: infusion, separate subject, and extra-curricular activities in Indian schools. It is also clear from the findings that many Indian scholars believe that schools in India should adopt EE pedagogical approaches that involve practical, experiential, and activity-based iii learning as these are successful in helping students to develop pro-environmental attitudes, behaviours, understanding, and skills. Scholars also believe that courses offering knowledge about local issues, the presence of eco-clubs and support from environmental NGO’s also significantly improve the learning experience of students. It is also emphasized by scholars that use of multimedia and social media technologies can bring more fruitful results in EE by making learning easily comprehensible, effective, efficient, resourceful, applicable, and economical. However, research findings from the analysis of the curriculum demonstrate that teaching about climate action needs to be stronger within the Indian school curriculum. Pedagogical approaches and effective practices that improve the learning experience of students about sustainability and climate solutions should be encouraged through EE in Indian schools. More theoretical pedagogical approaches are being currently used in EE than practical approaches in schools across Indian. Therefore, this gap must be filled through providing more experiential learning opportunities to the students.
Open Access
Offshore Oil and Marine Protected Areas: Stakeholders, Conflicts and Future Directions in Nova Scotia, Canada
(2020) Kapoor, Anuja; Fraser, Gail
Nova Scotia is invested in expanding hydrocarbon exploration offshore to boost its economy. A call for bids is carried out by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board every year to award licenses to operators for exploration through a competitive bidding process. But offshore petroleum expansion competes for space in one of the most productive Atlantic coastal regions. Nova Scotia leads seafood exports in the country (valued at $2 billion) and a growing network of protected areas support an immense diversity of marine life. There is a complex interplay of actors in the region. Map of the Scotian shelf (King and MacLean, 1974).1 1 King, L. H. & MacLean, B. (1974). Geology of the Scotian Shelf and Adjacent Areas. 1:1,000,000. In Marine Sciences Paper Series No. 7 G.S.C. Paper No. 74-31. First edition. Ottawa: Canadian Hydrological Service. iii With a view to understand the tensions and trade-offs between marine conservation and development, and associated actors, policies and governance, I focus on the call for bids process. Any future activity in the region depends on this critical decision point. Which marine users, and to what extent, are involved in decision-making? Has the process changed over time? Does conflict arise where call for bids are close to protected areas and fishing grounds? To what extent is conflict mitigated or resolved, and in what ways? What role can marine spatial planning play to achieve sustainable outcomes? This was a collaborative research project aimed at addressing these questions through a qualitative study involving 25 marine stakeholders. Dr. Fraser and I conducted most of the interviews together in Nova Scotia, Ottawa and online. After discussions with Drs. Fraser and Carter about the analysis, I undertook the N-Vivo analysis and wrote the two articles that are my major paper (in manuscript format for separate journals). Drs. Fraser and Carter provided comments on those drafts. The first paper examines case studies of overlap between conservation and extractive resource development. The second, evaluates the effectiveness of Strategic Environmental Assessments, used to inform licensing decisions and to mitigate conflict in early stages of planning. Both articles address stakeholder difficulties and room for improvement. Marine spatial planning is discussed as a process to appease extractive resource conflicts, but it is still quite early to tell whether it will.
Open Access
Planning for what nature, in whose city? Climate resilience and ecological imaginaries in the Port Lands Flood Protection Project
(2022-04-30) Alan Trumble; Jennifer Foster
This paper examines the Port Lands Flood Protection Project, a flood mitigation, ecological naturalization, and climate change adaptation project located in Toronto, Canada’s Port Lands area. Previously a site of post-industrial economic decline, ecological dysfunction, and flood risk, the area is being remade into a modern mixed-use neighbourhood with a newly constructed river estuary and a significantly increased area of naturalized habitat and recreational green space. Drawing from research on climate change resilience, urban political ecology, restoration ecology, and public participation theory, this paper investigates how the contemporary ecological imaginaries of the Port Lands emerged, how they have defined and influenced the course of the Port Lands Flood Protection Project, and what actors and interests have directed and been served by these developments. This research finds that the planning and implementation of the Port Lands Flood Protection Project has been defined by a series of compromises made by the project’s proponents between competing imperatives of ecological restoration and economic development, and between demands for public participation and the directives of government and private sector partners. While the project is a remarkable improvement on the state of the Port Lands, the compromises that have defined the project’s direction also threaten to undermine aspects of the project’s democratic legitimacy and its ability to produce long-term resilience in the area.
Open Access
Somaliland: A critique of International Non-Governmental Organization (INGO)-led Development
(2023-12-31) Abdulrahim Mohamed; Justin Podur
Somaliland, situated in the northwest corner of the horn of Africa, has a past shaped by foreign rule and by conflict. Not internationally recognized as a country, it has been treated officially as an autonomous region within Somalia. Since 1991, when Somaliland unilaterally declared independence, international organizations and International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) have played a major role in the rebuilding and development of the country. Because it is not recognized as an independent state, Somaliland is unable to access international loans and hence relies heavily on development aid from international partners. This paper examines the role of INGOs and critiques INGO-led development in Somaliland. It uses international development theories, encompassing various approaches from the pre-colonial era to the present. The history of Somaliland is explored during the British colonial era, tracing its trajectory from clan dynamics and civil war to the declaration of independence and the subsequent involvement of local and international NGOs. The paper focuses on funding mechanisms, priorities, and the diaspora’s role in the nation’s development to present the limitations of INGO-led development models. In this paper I examine the Somaliland Vision 2030 and the three National Development Plans (2011-2027). I address irregular youth migration (tahriib) and investigate agreements with the UAE and Taiwan with the introduction of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Open Access
Young Canadians and Climate Change: Vulnerability, Adaptive Capacity, Education, and Agency
(2021-08) Walker, Patricia; Perkins, Patricia
Canada’s climate is warming at twice the global rate and its population is already experiencing several adverse effects of climate change. Canadian children and youth are among the most vulnerable to climatic changes due to physiological and developmental factors, yet their vulnerability, adaptation, and adaptive capacity are largely undocumented in the climate change literature. Several factors, including health, socioeconomic, and sociocultural factors, contribute to the vulnerability of Canadian children and youth to climate change. Although health factors of vulnerability and the health impacts of climate change on these groups have been documented in the published and grey literatures to a certain extent, information on the socioeconomic and sociocultural factors contributing to their vulnerability remains scarce. As a signatory to the Paris Agreement and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Canada has binding obligations to reduce its carbon emissions, plan and implement adaptation measures for its citizens, including children and youth, and to provide the latter with a healthy environment in which to grow up. Although children and youth have contributed very little to anthropogenic climate change and are not decision-makers in policy processes, they are disproportionately affected by the climate inaction of previous generations because their lives will be increasingly impacted. Furthermore, young people worldwide, including marginalized children and youth (e.g., those who live in poverty and/or are Indigenous, racialized, immigrants, disabled, etc.) were largely excluded from consideration as a group in global climate change mitigation and adaptation decision-making processes until their groundswell of activist leadership, beginning in 2018. Despite, or perhaps in response to this marginalization, young people across Canada are taking a stand against climate inaction and playing leadership roles in climate action activism in this country. Their perceptions, experiences, and contributions, however, remain noticeably and regrettably scarce in the published climate change literature. This paper discusses implications for education, research, and policy.

Browse

Browsing MES Major Papers by Subject "Adaptation"

Results Per Page

Sort Options