2018 Annual Report

Partners for Action (P4A) is pleased to share our research, communication, and partnership highlights with the release of our 2018 Annual Report (PDF).

Information about flood risk and tangible actions to reduce risk is needed to help Canadians prepare. Partners for Action (P4A) is addressing these challenges by cultivating informed decision-making through sound research and effective partnerships. Our goal is simple: to protect the health and prosperity of Canadians by building community resilience to flooding.

2018 Highlights:

• P4A produced two reports, Engaging Community Members in the Floodplain Mapping Process and The Role of Flood Maps in Raising Flood Risk Awareness in Communities, for Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) that looked at the role of flood maps in community engagement and raising risk awareness at the community level. Recommendations from these reports have been incorporated in NRCan’s Federal Floodplain Mapping Guidelines Series, used by federal, provincial and municipal flood mapping practitioners.
• P4A developed the Effective Guide to Flood Risk Communication – Promoting Personal Preparedness, which provides an overview of the best practices for, and most effective approaches to, flood risk communication. It is founded on research that supports the use of bottom-up strategies to address community needs and capacity.
• P4A interviewed 12 flood and risk communication experts across the country to gain a better understanding of what experts want individuals and residents to know about flood risk and how to prepare. These interviews focused on current flood preparedness messaging and communication channels. The findings from the interviews will support P4A’s on-going communication efforts.

Forecasting The Year Ahead:

Our 2018-2019 projects and programs focus on furthering our goals, including:

• Producing educational materials with the Royal Canadian Geographic Society to increase flood risk awareness among school children.
• Leading the federal sub-working group on consumer engagement and flood.
• Hosting a national workshop on Flood Risk Communication to discuss best practices and next steps for a national flood risk awareness campaign.
• Creating additional content for floodsmartcanada.ca on how municipalities can work with their residents to address flood risk at the local level.
• Conducting a national survey on flood preparedness, similar to our 2016 survey, to measure changes in flood risk awareness and action.
• Hosting a workshop on Community-level Flood preparedness.