Webinar: Building Equity Using Nature-based Solutions

March 29, 2021

Presentations by:

Grant Fahlgren, Project Designer at PFS Studio and Chair of the Reconciliation Advisory Committee of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects.

Katherine Howard, Project Manager, VanPlay, the City of Vancouver’s Parks and Recreation Services Master Plan.

Paige Hunter, ACT research assistant; student, Simon Fraser University’s School of Resource and Environmental Management.

Deborah Harford, Executive Director, ACT (the Adaptation to Climate Change Team), Faculty of Environment, Simon Fraser University.

Description:

Green infrastructure and nature-based solutions provide low-emissions urban planning approaches to climate impacts such as flooding, heatwaves and air quality, improved habitat for biodiversity, and benefits for mental and physical health, with the latter becoming even more important during the pandemic. However, access to green space is not always equitable, and without strategic planning these solutions can lead to gentrification and displacement. As interest in nature-based solutions accelerates across Canada, it is essential that we embed equity considerations in their design.

On November 10, 2020, participants joined ACT (the Adaptation to Climate Change Team), SFU and special guests Grant Fahlgren, Chair of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects’ Reconciliation Advisory Committee, and Katherine Howard, Project Manager for the City of Vancouver’s Parks and Recreation Services Master Plan, for a webinar on the intersections between equity, green infrastructure, climate action, and human health and well-being and ways to incorporate equity into climate and community planning.

Click here to view Presentation Slides