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How should coastal communities in Nova Scotia cope with increased sea level rise and extreme flooding? This question motivated community members, property owners, Indigenous communities and governments to realign a section of Nova Scotia's North Onslow dyke in order to strengthen resilience to natural hazards and mitigate future flood risks.

Online technologies have changed the way we communicate, receive information and interact with officials during an emergency, such as a flood or wildfire.

We are notified by mobile applications when inclement weather is set to strike, we can find tsunami and flood warnings on Twitter, and Facebook notifies us if our friends or loved ones are "safe" when any disaster unfolds in their vicinity.

Canadian researcher Sara Harrison is interested in identifying opportunities for online collaboration and engagement between governments and citizens. Sara wants to understand how governments interact with their residents before, during and after a disaster. How are different governments across Canada doing this? Is there untapped potential in the way governments interact, educate and obtain information from their citizens? How could governments benefit from online citizen engagement?

The coast is emblematic of Nova Scotia, its people and its culture. About 70% of Nova Scotia’s population resides along the coast making this “coastal zone” a place where private and public development has concentrated over the years.

Sea level rise and climate change pose a serious threat for coastal properties and populations in this Atlantic Canada province. Not only does infrastructure becomes at risk of permanent inundation, but important industries to the economy can also be impacted, such as through more frequent business interruptions from damaging storm surges.

While municipalities in Canada work on adapting to a changing climate and rising tides, it is important to take into consideration lessons learned from international jurisdictions, where many urban centres have already put in place projects and initiatives to address their coastal risks.