Ocean Canada Partnership
The SSHRC-funded Ocean Canada Partnership (OCP) is focused on building resilient and sustainable oceans on all Canadian coasts and to supporting coastal communities as they respond to rapid and uncertain environmental changes. OCP research will synthesize social, cultural, economic and environmental knowledge about oceans and coasts nationally. Three broad goals frame this Partnership: 1) taking stock of what we know about Canada’s three oceans; 2) building scenarios for the possible futures that await our coastal-ocean regions; and 3) creating a national dialogue and shared vision for Canada’s oceans. Visit the OCP project website.
Assessing Adaptive Co-Management in Biosphere Reserves (BiosACM)
BiosACM is a multi-year, multi-institution project to assess the processes, structures, and outcomes of adaptive co-management initiatives in Sweden and Canada. The aim of our work is to contribute to a better understanding of the causal relationships among collaborative activities, learning processes and sustainability outcomes. Our work draws on the experiences in UNESCO Biosphere Reserves where adaptive and collaborative management processes are already occurring. The project is led by colleagues at Brock University and the Stockholm Resilience Centre.
Community Conservation Research Network (CCRN)
The SSHRC-funded CCRN addresses a crucial concern in our modern world: how people can most effectively work together to address environmental problems. Network activities aim to improve our understanding of how local communities initiate and participate in environmental conservation and stewardship, notably in coastal areas of Canada and beyond. Coasts are particularly important environmentally, both because more and more of the world’s population live along the coast, and because the complexity of the land-sea interface poses extra challenges. Visit the CCRN project website.
Marine Transformations and Adaptive Governance
Climate change, coastal development, aquaculture intensification, and the expansion of capture fisheries are coalescing to produce complex and uncertain consequences in marine contexts. Ecosystems, domestic economies, food security, and the livelihoods of millions of small-scale fishers are under threat. Key objectives of this multi-year program are to identify what attributes and practices of governance can steer societies away from unsustainable pathways and towards marine transformations that sustain ecosystem services and human well-being. Research is being undertaken in Vietnam, Indonesia, and Brazil (with F. Berkes (Manitoba); funded by SSHRC).
Partnership for Canada-Caribbean Community Climate Change Adaptation (ParCA)
The Caribbean and Atlantic Canada are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, but large knowledge gaps remain concerning the vulnerability of key groups and economic sectors (tourism, fisheries), and adaptation options. The ParCA project will develop innovative adaptation strategies relative to existing and anticipated future exposure-sensitivities, create opportunities for collaborative learning with stakeholders from Atlantic Canadian and Caribbean cases facing common stresses (sea level rise, coastal erosion, storm events), and assess the opportunities and limitations on climate change adaptation governance (funded by IDRC-SSHRC).