Working with Nature
Working with Nature
Harnessing the power of natural infrastructure to increase municipalities’ flood and drought resiliency
The Issue / Idea
Every municipality has “natural infrastructure,” but what is it, where is it, and how does it relate to flood and drought risk?
The Project
The Working With Nature toolkit was created to help municipalities catalogue their natural infrastructure, and then develop a prioritized plan for better using it to mitigate flood and drought risk. A Primer document was developed to provide a starting point for municipalities to understand the type of information, data, and programs available to inform and support flood and drought mitigation planning.
This free toolkit provides the materials and directions for a municipality to self-navigate through workshops, worksheets, and ultimately a living Workbook. In the process, a municipality will address Goals and Principles, Risks and Hazards, Natural Infrastructure, Actions, and Policy Development.
Working with Nature Toolkit Website
Working with Nature Webinar Slide Deck
Municipal Flood and Drought Action Planning Primer
Adapting to Flooding: An Adapt-action Summary Report
Adapting to Water Scarcity: An Adapt-action Summary Report
Organization
This project was undertaken by
The Miistakis Institute
Status
Project was completed in
2019
Supporters
Government of Alberta’s Watershed Resiliency and Restoration Program
Town of Cochrane
Municipal EcoToolkit: Tools for Maintaining your Natural Systems
Municipal EcoToolkit: Tools for Maintaining your Natural Systems
A resource for Alberta municipalities seeking to maintain their natural infrastructure systems
The Issue / Idea
How can a municipality maintain their natural infrastructure?
The Project
The Municipal EcoToolkit was created by the Miistakis Institute as a resource for Alberta municipalities seeking to maintain their natural infrastructure systems. It is not intended to be a prescriptive statement on what must be done. It is intended to help generate awareness, creativity, collaboration, and questions, and assist those people doing the challenging work of maintaining our natural systems.
To make this toolkit, we focused in such things as law/bylaws, policy directives, inventories or datasets, protective designations, maps, management constraints, proactive strategies, staff positions, guidelines, legal designations, education/communication resources, workshops, case studies, financial analyses, technologies, restorative actions, etc., etc. ..!
Municipal EcoToolkit Website
Organization
This project was undertaken by
The Miistakis Institute
Status
This research was completed in
2020
Supporters
Alberta Innovates
Environmental Law Centre
Alberta Low Impact Development Partnership
Climate Resilience for Local Communities
Climate Resilience for Local Communities
The Adapt-action Web Tool
The Issue / Idea
How do municipalities adapt to a changing climate? How can they become more climate resilient?
The Project
After extensive research to determine the best way to help municipalities, the Adapt-action tool was created – a web-based decision-support tool for municipalities seeking guidance in taking action regarding climate change adaptation.
Adapt-action guides you through the climate change issues of adapting to water scarcity and adapting to flooding. Each is outlined from the environmental changes you will see, to the implications for your community, through to the strategies you can employ to adapt and become more climate resilient.
As you navigate through each issue narrative, you will be able to view and collect information about: predicted climate change impacts and their effects; implications of these impacts on agriculture, health, recreation, infrastructure and biodiversity in your community; and what your municipality can do to prepare and adapt to these expected changes.
The research and tool development were undertaken as part of ABMI’s Biodiversity Management and Climate Change Adaptation project
Adapt-action Web Site
Adapt-action Overview
Research Reports – Year 1
Research Reports – Year 2
Research Reports – Year 3
(Did we miss something important? Let us know!)
Organization
This project was undertaken by
Status
This was a multi-pronged research project begun in 2012, culminating in the release of Adapt-action in
April 2014
Supporters
ABMI Biodiversity Management and Climate Change Adaptation Project
Municipalities and Environmental Assessment: Primer and Model Bylaw
Municipalities and Environmental Assessment: Primer and Model EA Bylaw
Alberta’s Municipalities and Environmental Assessment: A Primer and Model Bylaw for Alberta’s Municipalities
The Issue / Idea
Through regulation of private land uses and through local land use planning, municipalities play an essential role in the management and protection of Alberta’s environment. While Environmental assessment is a tool that enables better decision-making considering environmental, social, cultural and economic impacts of proposed land uses, municipalities may need support in developing supporting bylaws.
The Project
To enable municipalities to implement effective environmental assessment (EA) processes, the Environmental Law Centre developed a Model EA Bylaw. The Model EA Bylaw is accompanied by a primer which provides relevant background information.
The Model EA Bylaw provides a template for a municipal EA bylaw along with explanatory annotations. The template includes provisions addressing:
- objectives/purposes,
- application of the bylaw,
- process,
- prohibitions, and
- definitions.
The companion primer provides background information on:
- municipal authority over environmental matters,
- municipalities and EA, and
- the elements of a municipal EA bylaw.
Municipal Environmental Assessment: A Model Bylaw for Alberta’s Municipalities
Alberta’s Municipalities and Environmental Assessment: A Primer to the Model Bylaw
Organization
This project was undertaken by
The Environmental Law Centre
Status
Development of the primer and model bylaw began in the Fall of 2016 and was completed in
January 2018
Supporters
Max Bell Foundation
Anonymous Foundation
Conservation Easement Guide for Municipalities
A Conservation Easement Guide for Municipalities
A practical how-to guide for municipalities considering holding conservation easements or establishing a conservation easement program
The Issue / Idea
Municipalities are eligible holders of conservation easements, but have very little information on how – and why – municipalities might go about using this tool.
The Project
To respond to the issue, the Miistakis Institute developed a ‘How To’ guide that informs municipalities about what conservation easements are, the municipal considerations for using this tool, details on what a conservation easement includes, and direction on how to create and administer a conservation easement program. The guide also comes with several Alberta-based resources and templates.
The sections of the guide are:
- The Basics (What is a conservation easement?)
- Conservation Easements and Municipalities (policy, planning, financial, and special considerations
- Administration (preparing, creating, and stewarding a conservation easement and/or program)
Municipal Conservation Easement Guide
Municipal Conservation Easement Fact Sheets
Municipal Conservation Easement Program Resources
(Click on any item to go to it!)
Conservation Easement Web Resources
- CE Alberta Comprehensive Web Resource
- Alberta Conservation Easement Registry
- Canada Land Trust Standards and Practices
- Canada Land Trust Standards and Practices – Backgrounder
Templates and Drafting Resources
- Common conservation easement provisions
- Common conservation easement agreement clauses
- Template Baseline Document Report
- Conservation easement monitoring template
- Strathcona County monitoring template
Example Plans and Policies
-
- Examples – Conservation easements used by Alberta municipalities
-
- Examples – IDP Excerpts
- Alberta Beach Regional IDP (General Development Policies)
- Cypress / Redcliff / Med Hat – Tri Area IDP
- Gull Lake IDP
- Examples – IDP Excerpts
-
- Examples – LUB Excerpts
-
- Examples – Conservation easement Bylaw
- Examples – Other policy excerpts
Provincial Legislation
Support Organizations
(Did we miss something important? Let us know!)
Organization
This project was undertaken by
The Miistakis Institute
Status
This guide was released in
October 2017
Supporters
Max Bell Foundation
Anonymous Foundation
ALSA Tools Webinars
ALSA’s Conservation Tools for Municipalities: A Webinar Series
Informational webinars on conservation easements, transferable development credits, conservation offsets, and conservation directives
The Issue / Idea
The Alberta Land Stewardship Act has conservation and stewardship tools that could be of use to municipalities, but it is unclear how they would work for municipalities.
The Project
To respond to the issue, the Miistakis Institute organized a series of webinars on the four conservation and stewardship tools that are included in the Alberta Land Stewardship Act. Experts in each of the topics were asked to present a one-hour webinar, with each followed by a moderated Q&A session.
The webinars presented were:
Conservation Easements: Tuesday January 24, 2017
Kim Good, Legacy Land Trust Society
Transfer of Development Credits: Tuesday January 31, 2017
Guy Greenaway, Miistakis Institute
Conservation Directives: Tuesday February 7, 2017
Jason Unger, Environmental Law Centre
Conservation Offsets: Tuesday February 14, 2017
Dave Poulton, Poulton Environmental Strategies Inc. & the Alberta Association for Conservation Offsets
The webinars were well-received, with approximately 50 people attending each one. The follow-up evaluations saw the content rated as Excellent (9.5%), Very Good (57%), or Good (33%), with none rating the content as Poor or Fair.
Webinar Files
Conservation Easements (slide deck, video, resource)
Transfer of Development Credits (slide deck, video, resource)
Conservation Directives (slide deck, video, resource)
Conservation Offsets (slide deck, video, resource)
Organization
This project was undertaken by
The Miistakis Institute
Status
The webinars were presented in
January and February 2017
Supporters
Max Bell Foundation
Anonymous Foundation