Photo credit: Samon on Unsplash
In this activity, we will test the RISE Scorecard prototypes developed in Activity 1 through the real-world planning and approval process, working with our developer, planner, and not-for-profit partners and external stakeholders.
We will investigate whether the RISE information facilitates improvements in RISE scores through interactions between developers and planners; investigate how the RISE information, once disseminated to stakeholders, is used in the public realm, including in municipal meetings; determine whether development changes are more likely when RISE information is included, relative to non-RISE case studies; and, determine how developers use RISE information in their marketing materials and whether they report any positive effects from their marketing efforts.
Through an iterative and collaborative process with our partners and stakeholders that incorporates their feedback and testing into the design of the Scorecard, and in line with Activity 7 on knowledge mobilization, we aim to produce a useful tool that will inform stakeholders in their decision-making process around residential developments and home buying, and encourages investments in green infrastructure at the municipal level as part of Canada’s longer-term strategy towards mitigating climate change.
Activity 2 sub-projects
Team members are working on the following sub-projects:
Research profile: The assessment of natural features in the residential development planning process
Team member: Adam Skoyles
Overview:
Through his research, Adam is seeking to better understand how natural features, such as trees and wetlands, are considered in residential development applications, particularly with respect to climate change and stormwater management. His research also aims to understand how the RISE Scorecard could be designed to fit into the planning process in a way that will be widely used by major stakeholders in residential developments, such as municipal planners and developers. Through interviews with working professionals in the residential development planning process, Adam’s research is helping to inform the creation of a reliable and accepted tool that can help make green infrastructure more appealing to private developers as a design option that will simultaneously help municipalities reach their climate change mitigation goals.
Main research questions:
1. How are natural features considered in decision-making within the residential development planning process in Southern Ontario?
2. How is climate change factored into decision-making with respect to the natural features in the residential development planning process in Southern Ontario?
3a. What are the essential characteristics of a tool to promote the consideration of natural features and their role in combatting climate change in the residential development planning process in Southern Ontario?
3b. What are the main barriers to using a tool to promote the consideration of natural features and their role in combatting climate change in the residential development planning process in Southern Ontario, and what are the main facilitators to circumvent those barriers?
Methodology:
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Nine interviews with municipal planning staff members across six different municipalities in Southern Ontario
- Eight interviews with staff members of private land developers across six different companies that work in Southern Ontario