Asset Management and Climate Resiliency

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An Infrastructure Resilience Professional (IRP) Online Course

The Asset Management and Climate Resiliency online course was designed to fulfill one of the knowledge requirements of the Infrastructure Resilience Professional (IRP) Credentialling Program, but it can also be taken as a stand-alone course for professional development credits

The Climate Risk Institute is excited to announce that our suite of courses that make up the Infrastructure Resilience Professional (IRP) Credential is moving to a new platform in collaboration with Royal Roads University. Our courses will now be hosted on the Moodle Platform where you will be able to find all course material and engage in discussions and knowledge sharing with other participants and instructors. The courses are a blend of synchronous sessions (where you will join live Zoom meetings once per week) and asynchronous content where instructors have recorded lecture content and readings that you can complete on your own schedule.

Upcoming Course Offerings

Visit Royal Roads University for upcoming start dates. Registration and payment are through our partner website at Royal Roads University. You’ll need to create a Royal Roads account if you don’t have one

Registration and upcoming dates!

Course Fee

$795 plus applicable taxes

Fees cover online course instruction and presentation materials in pdf format. Participants will be provided access to course materials one week prior to the beginning of the Course. This training is intended for individual instruction, not for groups under a single registration

The course is designed to fulfill one of the knowledge requirements of the Infrastructure Resilience Professional (IRP) Credentialling Program, but it can also be taken as a stand-alone course for professional development credits

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Asset Management and Climate Resiliency

Infrastructure assets in Canada are valued at more than $1 trillion and municipal assets comprise nearly 60% of all infrastructure in the country. Although roughly 50% of these assets are in good condition, there is still an important asset stock that is in poor condition and reaching the end of its service life.  The 2019 Canadian Infrastructure Report Card has identified a high percentage of stormwater and public transit assets for which the condition is unknown.  Natural assets are increasingly being recognized for the critical services they provide our communities, yet these assets are also at risk. 

Meanwhile, most existing assets were designed to function under historic climate conditions and did not take future climate changes into account. Through its effects both on severe weather and average operating conditions, climate change is likely to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and intensify impacts. To maintain public safety and sustain quality of life, the impacts of climate change need to be understood and used to inform the ways in which we manage our assets – yet it can be daunting for asset owners to make decisions about potentially costly upgrades in the face of uncertainty.   

Asset management is a pragmatic and necessary process for implementing climate action and building community resilience in the face of climate change. Asset management involves balancing costs, levels of service, and risks across different infrastructure types (including natural assets) and life cycle phases. It is an iterative process that fosters a holistic understanding of complex systems and service requirements. When used effectively, asset management allows timely interventions (“doing the right thing, to the right asset, at the right time”) and makes systems and the services they provide to the public more resilient, sustainable, and affordable.    

Course Description

This Course introduces the fundamentals of asset management so that learners can identify the benefits and challenges of infrastructure asset management and link this to their own practice, including land use planning, operations and maintenance, finance, and risk management.  The course provides an understanding of how climate can impact assets and services, and the integration of risk mitigation and adaptation measures over the life-cycle of an asset. 

Course Objectives  

This course is designed to fulfill one of the knowledge requirements of the Infrastructure Resilience Professional (IRP) Credentialling Program. It can also be taken as a stand-alone course for professional development credits.    

In taking this course, participants will

  1. Identify foundational asset management principles and processes, and how these are relevant to your work.
  2. Recognize the potential impacts of climate change on asset lifecycle performance.
  3. Analyze stages in the process of asset management for opportunities to improve climate resilience of infrastructure.
  4. Identify the role of natural assets and natural asset management in climate resilience.
  5. Describe common challenges faced in implementing asset management to build infrastructure resilience, and strategies for overcoming these challenges.

Meet the Instructors!

Jody Rechenmacher, P.Eng.

Jody Rechenmacher, P.Eng., is a Community Consultant and Principal with Urban Systems Ltd. Jody works with municipalities and First Nations to lead and facilitate the development of service-focused management programs, strategies, and plans that span all types of community services. Her expertise is in navigating complex problems that require both a technical and a social lens, with an emphasis on asset management and climate action. Read more…

Donna Chiarelli

Donna Chiarelli brings over 20 years experience helping to build healthy, prosperous and resilient communities. Her consulting work now focuses on strengthening decision-making of local governments and the people they work with, related to asset management, environmental sustainability and climate action. Read more…

Paul Cobb, B. Eng

Paul is a Manager of Training Services with the Climate Risk Institute. An engineer by training, he has dedicated his career to finding and implementing climate change solutions. Paul’s work spans twenty years in the fields of climate change mitigation and adaptation – working with everyone from rural communities to provincial and territorial governments – helping identify and implement climate solutions. Read more…