FINAL REPORT Project Title: Design and Delivery of the Northern

FINAL REPORT

Project Title: Design and Delivery of the Northern Ontario Training and Consultation Session “Accessing & Interpreting Climate Change Information for Decision-Making in Northern Ontario Project Number: CCMM-1516-004 Recipient: Mining Innovation Rehabilitation and Applied Research Corporation (MIRARCO) Project End Date: November 30, 2015 Ministry Project Contact: Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) Environmental Monitoring and Reporting Branch 125 Resources Road, Toronto, Ontario, M9P 3V6 Dr. John Liu, Senior Science Advisor on Climate Change [email protected]

Project Objective

The Project objective was for the Recipient to develop and deliver a 1-day in person training session in Northern Ontario, with up to 50 participants. More specifically, the anticipated outcomes were to:

a) Familiarize participants with key sources of climate data and climate change information, specific to Northern Ontario; b) Describe the mechanics of accessing and conducting basic manipulations of the data; c) Conduct a consultation exercise to gauge specific climate information needs of participants; d) Provide up-to-date, current information on the science of climate change in plain language for the broader public.

Actions Undertaken

Based on the positive feedback from attendees to the Toronto session, the Recipient delivered a training session in Sudbury to further engage provincial, municipal and other stakeholders and decision makers in Northern Ontario in the inclusion of climate change information in decision making. It also sought feedback on the extent to which climate change information is currently used, sources of that information and how the information can be improved in Northern Ontario. This Project supported the continued improvement of climate data communication and interpretation between climate scientists and practitioners.

The training session was 6 hours in duration and was attended by 30 individuals, representing a range of fields and disciplines in municipal planning, policy development, conservation, natural resources management, and more. Invitations to the session were delivered to 16 separate organizations, with a reach of over 50 individuals, including:

 Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs;  Ministry of Environment and Climate Change;  Ministry of Northern Development and Mines;  Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry;  Ministry of Transportation;  Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing;  Mattagami Region Conservation Authority;  Nickel District Conservation Authority;  North Bay-Mattawa Region Conservation Authority;  Lakehead Region Conservation Authority;  Sault Ste. Marie Region Conservation Authority;  City of Sault Ste. Marie;  City of Greater Sudbury;  Greater Sudbury Climate Consortium;  City of Greater Sudbury-Earth Care Sudbury Initiatives; and  Ontario Forest and Research Institute.

The sessions were located at Science North in Sudbury and were delivered in-person by members of the Project team. Niche expertise in the field of climate data information development and climate risk decision-making from Risk Sciences International (RSI) were applied through their sharing of content developed for a similar, previous training session held in Toronto. Their training material was expanded and tailored to suit the Northern Ontario context.

This Recipient developed and delivered a training session that was:

 Tailored to Northern Ontario decision-makers with climate-sensitive portfolios, who are scientifically literate but non-experts with respect to climate and climate change;  Designed to familiarize participants with key sources of climate and climate change information specific to Northern Ontario, including the mechanics of accessing and conducting basic manipulations of the data;  Designed to provide key background information and facilitate exercises and discussions through welcomed questions and comments throughout the presentations. In total, 8 questions were asked from attendees and was captured by the note taker. The background information was related to: o Current climate and its historical trends and uncertainties; o Climate change modeling and theory, including but not limited to: . state of the science; . time/space resolution issues in modeled and empirical datasets and statistics; . characterizing climate means vs. climate extremes;

 Included a two-part series of case studies, focused on infrastructure and planning. The goal of the case studies was to provide examples of the application of climate data and climate information in practice throughout North American communities. Specifically, the case studies covered the following topics: o Legal implications to adapt o Policy and planning acts, climate change tradeoffs o Requirements for resilient communities, infrastructure and landscapes o Future risks o Reducing climate risks o Examples of projections and adaptation put into practice o Municipal and land use planning o Engineering forensics, codes, and standards

Design and Delivery of the Northern Ontario Training and Consultation Session “Accessing & Interpreting Climate Change Information for Decision-Making in Northern Ontario CCMM-1516-004 – Final Report MIRARCO/OCCIAR o Extreme rainfall events – design values, ecosystem services o Climate services in support of adaptation  Use of climate model ensembles in decision-making, including but not limited to: o what can and cannot be “answered” using climate model ensembles and other approaches to identifying climatic change; o implications of, and tricks and challenges of working with climate means versus climate extremes in decision-making; and, o characterization of uncertainties.  Consultative to gauge specific climate information needs of participants through a 45-minute discussion period. Participants were provided a list of five questions two days prior to the session in order to prepare and encourage them to reflect on their climate information needs throughout the training session (see Appendix A for the list of questions). The stakeholder consultation was facilitated by Al Douglas who posed each question to the group; the discussion and responses were captured by a note taker. The format of the discussion was designed to encourage idea-sharing and interaction among participants and held no limitation on the time or extent to which they could comment/provide feedback.

The Recipient also developed and delivered a public information session that provided information on the science of climate change in simpler terms designed for a broad public audience. The public information session took place over 1 hour in the evening on the same day as the training session and was attended by 21 members of the public

Performance Measures and Targets

The following table outline the project objectives and expectations, and provides an explanation of the performance results.

Performance Performance Performance Results Measures Targets Number of 50 30 participants at the 16 organizations; 45 people were invited. With general training session circulation included, the invitation had a reach of over 50 people. 29 people registered for the event 27 attended the event Course evaluation 20 22 forms completed for the training session Course evaluation Participants Participants were asked to rate their level of knowledge on forms for the improved their the source of climate data and climate information prior to training session knowledge on the session and again upon completing the session, on a current status of scale from ‘very poor’ to ‘excellent’. climate science in  Prior to taking the course, almost half of participants Ontario, climate responded as having a ‘fair’ level of knowledge (45 per cent). However, upon completing the course, this 3

Design and Delivery of the Northern Ontario Training and Consultation Session “Accessing & Interpreting Climate Change Information for Decision-Making in Northern Ontario CCMM-1516-004 – Final Report MIRARCO/OCCIAR data availability and number dropped to 4 per cent, and the number of application. responses for ‘good’ increased from 23 per cent to 45 per cent.  One respondent provided the following comment: “I have a clearer understanding of complex issues/data”.  Seventy-seven per cent of participants would recommend the course to others. Course evaluation 5-10 specific Specific climate information needs were polled during the forms current climate stakeholder consultation. The following question was information needs asked: what additional material would you like presented in the course?  More information targeted for policy-making;  Examples from a broad number of sectors (forestry, mining, potential climate change impacts);  Examples of success stories;  A close walk-through of another municipality example;  Help on municipal adaptation plans;  A focus on how climate change impacts industry in northern Ontario;  Data related information applied at a local scale;  Ecosystem sustainability;  Sector-specific data-related applications.

Consultation/disc 5-10 current Question: ussion climate What resources do you need to manage climate change information needs uncertainties in your decision-making? E.g. web-based content for general or specific information, information extension services, risk management frameworks, etc.  Communication, education and outreach;  Online resources;  Posters or information sheets for communities, similar to those resources that are provided to teachers;  Resources for communicating climate change information;  Synonyms or alternate terms to describe ‘climate change’, as it’s possible that the word has been exhausted among the public; new terms that could be applied to certain sectors, such as climate risk management;  Guidance material for municipal planning, such as, climate change mitigation, adaptation case studies;  Additional information on extreme heat events and the potential implications on forest fires,

Design and Delivery of the Northern Ontario Training and Consultation Session “Accessing & Interpreting Climate Change Information for Decision-Making in Northern Ontario CCMM-1516-004 – Final Report MIRARCO/OCCIAR agriculture and fish species, which might be underestimated;  Support for managing and incorporating climate change into other areas of concern (e.g. emergency preparedness), among rural communities; and  Support for communicating impacts to various levels of authority.

Question: What other climate services/information do you require to support your decision-making, planning, or infrastructure design and asset management?  Information that advises infrastructure on future changes, such as low-risk decision-making;  Cohesiveness in the guidelines and recommendations of data use;  Locally fit examples, particularly given the various landscapes;  A regional basis of information; information on stormwater, for example, is not available and hard to get a hold of but is needed;  Best practices sharing;  Information and case study sharing;  Information on risks perceived by the public and how policy makers and planners can incorporate that into decision-making;  Reduced disconnect between the facts/science and the information provided to the public.  Information on overcoming or managing variability within models;  Recommendations on what model to use for various applications, such as ecosystem services, cultural services etc.;  How to incorporate high density, longer duration rainfalls with climate models?  Information on data reliability.

Consultation/disc 5 examples of Question: ussion current use of Do you currently use information on climate change to climate information support decisions in your job? If so, where do you obtain in local or sectorial this information? decision-making  Climate projections and future climate changes in order to guide agricultural and conservation practices, such as re-greening efforts, ecological coverings, and 5

Design and Delivery of the Northern Ontario Training and Consultation Session “Accessing & Interpreting Climate Change Information for Decision-Making in Northern Ontario CCMM-1516-004 – Final Report MIRARCO/OCCIAR informing types of crops that may become vulnerable to future climate disruptions.  The use of a climate hardiness database was an additional use of climate change information for the use of forecasting and planting accordingly. For example, the use of climate projections to plant according to conditions that are expected for the year 2050.  Predictions of increasing temperatures and changes in precipitation for protecting water quality and quantity.

Number of 50 21 participants at An invitation to the public session was distributed to evening public Earthcare Sudbury’s network, posted in the Sudbury Public session and Laurentian University Libraries, the Vale Living with Lakes Centre, Laurentian University’s School of the Environment, the Junction Creek Stewardship Committee membership and Facebook page, the Nickel District Conservation Authority members and Facebook page, the Greater Sudbury Watershed Alliance Facebook page, Livable Sudbury, and through a blog written by Science North. Invitation was also posted on the OCCIAR and OCCIAR staff Facebook pages. Course evaluation 20 15 forms completed for the evening public session Course evaluation Participants Participants were asked to rate their level of climate forms for the improved their change knowledge prior to the session and again upon evening public knowledge on completing the session, on a scale from ‘very poor’ to session current status of ‘excellent’: climate science in Ontario, climate  The number of respondents that selected ‘fair’ data availability and decreased from 2 to 0; those that selected ‘adequate’ application. also decreased by 2; ‘good’ increased from 6 to 9; and the number of respondents that selected ‘excellent’ grew by 1.  When asked, ‘Based on the information presented to you in the session, do you think climate change is real?’ half (11) of respondents answered ‘yes, I am extremely sure’, with the remaining (4) answering ‘yes, I am very sure’.  More than half (12) of respondents selected ‘it is already causing harm’, when asked when climate change will start to cause harm in Ontario.

Design and Delivery of the Northern Ontario Training and Consultation Session “Accessing & Interpreting Climate Change Information for Decision-Making in Northern Ontario CCMM-1516-004 – Final Report MIRARCO/OCCIAR  The following comments were provided when asked what important concept or information was taught during the information session: “That climate change is critical to look at but we are already down a road where our climate is irreversible, so we need to address it now or it will get worse” “Per cent rates of change” “Some of the more recent changes in Ontario” “There are a number of models that can be used to predict/analyze climate change and considering all of them, it's possible to construct a realistic scenario” “The models are getting better”  Fifty percent (11) of respondents would recommend the course to others.

As indicated in the course evaluations, participants demonstrated an increased knowledge of climate information and climate data upon completing the training session. In particular, participants noted an improved understanding of the disadvantages/advantages of various methods and types of models used in future climate projections (e.g. the use of ensembles). Furthermore, participants provided positive feedback on the use of case studies as a tool for translating science into useable, plain language information for use in policy development and other decision-making scenarios. Participants also identified many climate information needs and resources that would help in their decision-making.

Throughout the course evaluations and individual in-person discussions, attendees expressed satisfaction with the training session and felt a valuable outcome was the opportunity to engage with other stakeholders in northern Ontario, to network, and to build relationships that could lead to collaboration.

Lessons Learned

A particularly common area of feedback surrounded the need for key take-away messages at the end of the day’s session. This feedback resonates with comments surrounding the complexity of information provided on data models and theory.

Although more than half of attendees were satisfied with the content covered in the training session, sufficient interest in additional material was noted, including:

 Information targeted to policy-making;  Specific examples from a range of sectors (e.g. forestry, mining, natural resources etc.) to demonstrate the breadth of potential climate impact;  Examples of success stories;  Support in applying the use of data to municipal adaptation planning;  How/if government agencies are using climate data.

In addition, attendees felt the information was presented clearly, but was content heavy for a single-day event. When asked to reflect on the amount of information provided in the presentations, roughly 60 per cent of attendees indicated it was ‘too much’. For many, opportunities for additional resources on climate 7

Design and Delivery of the Northern Ontario Training and Consultation Session “Accessing & Interpreting Climate Change Information for Decision-Making in Northern Ontario CCMM-1516-004 – Final Report MIRARCO/OCCIAR data and climate information was of high interest. One respondent recommended repeating the session in one year’s time to provide an update on the status of climate data in Ontario. As a whole, the training session successfully familiarized participants with key sources and concepts of climate change data and information. However, it is clear that a knowledge-gap and an appetite for additional information, recommendations and general guidance remains among decision-makers in northern Ontario.

Registrants List This table represents the full list of individuals that were invited. Names that are accompanied by ‘yes’ indicates those who attended the event.

Last Name First Name Organization Attended Babin-fenske Jennifer City of Greater Sudbury-EarthCare Sudbury Initiatives Yes Bateman Rhonda Sault Ste. Marie Region Conservation Authority Bell Brian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Yes Bowler Renee Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) Brown Christopher Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Yes Cameron Brian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Cooper Leslie Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) Yes Davidson Jennifer Greater Sudbury Climate Consortium Yes Desrochers Pierrette Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food Yes Esfahininejad Mojgan Nickel District Conservation Authority Yes Gibson Lin Conservation Sudbury-Nickel District Conservation Authority (NDCA) Yes Gleeson Jenny Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) Hall John Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) Yes Haslam Lana City of Greater Sudbury Yes Henttonen, Mervi Lakehead Region Conservation Authority Hutchison Carrie Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Jakobsen Susanne Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Jorgensen Carl Nickel District Conservation Authority Yes Kasper Max Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Yes King David Municipal Affairs and Housing Kovacs Hajnal Nickel District Conservation Authority Yes Lo Grace Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) Yes Maciaszek Eva Ministry of Environment and Climate Change McArdle Julie Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) McCaffrey Tina City of Greater Sudbury Yes McLachlan Amanda Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) Yes Monet Stephen City of Greater Sudbury-EarthCare Sudbury Initiatives Yes Naik Anoop Nickel District Conservation Authority Yes Neal Jeff Municipal Affairs and Housing O'Neill Kathleen Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Paetz Jennifer Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) Yes Qiu Guowang Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Yes Rawn Trina Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Rishworth Alan Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) Yes

Design and Delivery of the Northern Ontario Training and Consultation Session “Accessing & Interpreting Climate Change Information for Decision-Making in Northern Ontario CCMM-1516-004 – Final Report MIRARCO/OCCIAR Alex of Nofthern Development and Mines Schulte-Hostedde Bridqet Municipal Affairs and Housing Shrestha Bharat Ontario Forest and Research Institute (OFRI) Yes Snucins Ed Ministry of the Environment and Climate Chanqe Yes Stephenson Deborah Ministry of Nofthern Development and Mines (MNDM) Yes Stewaft Marc Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (MNDM) Yes Taylor lohn Ministry of Transportation (MTO) Taylor Brian Nofth Bay-Mattawa Conservation AuthoriU Vallier Dan Mattagami Region Conservation AuthoriW Welwood David Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Yes Yasinchuck Sarah Ministry of Nofthern Development and Mines (MNDM) Yes

.4 L DauelJ 5 have complied with the terms and conditions of the Agreement, except as disclosed in the final report. DEC ?rzo/s

Al Douglas CAO, MIRARCO Date

Design and Delivery of the Northern Ontario Training and Consultation Session "Accessing & Interpreting Climate Change Information for Decision-Making in Northern Ontario CCMM-1.516-004 - Final Report MTRARCO/OCCtAR

Appendix A

List of Questions for Discussion

1. What climate change hazards and/or risks are of greatest concern to you and/or your organization? What are the top 5 impacts to areas that you are responsible for in your job?

2. Do you currently use information on climate change to support decisions in your job? If so, where do you obtain this information?

3. What other climate services/information do you require to support your decision-making, planning, or infrastructure design and asset management?

4. What resources do you need to manage climate change uncertainties in your decision-making? E.g. web-based content for general or specific information, information extension services, risk management frameworks, etc.

5. If this session was offered to your colleagues, is there any additional information that would be helpful?

Additional questions posed by the facilitator:

1. In regards to environmental assessments: have there been any inclusions of climate change in environmental assessments?

2. Are there any barriers? What is standing in the way from using the data we saw today; things we need today.