A Municipal Perspective on the Value of Natural Infrastructure

There has been great progress in ecosystem services assessments and natural capital accounting. However, what evidence, tools, and processes do Canadian municipalities need as owners and managers of 60% of Canada’s infrastructure to recognize the value of natural infrastructure for future long-term resilience of our communities and evaluate it alongside traditional grey options?

During the webinar, our panelists will showcase examples of the return on investment for natural infrastructure projects and discuss options for cost recovery, including specific project examples from Canadian municipalities such as the floodplain naturalization work done by the City of Grand Forks.

The webinar will be moderated by Kerra Chomlak, the Executive Director of ClimateWest. Panellists will be announced shortly.

Our Moderator

Kerra Chomlak is the Executive Director of ClimateWest, a regional climate services organization for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. ClimateWest’s mandate is to build climate resilience by helping communities, businesses, non-profits and governments make informed climate adaptation decisions that are based on the best data and information, tailored to their needs.
 
Prior to ClimateWest, Kerra worked as Environment Manager at the City of Leduc, Alberta, where she developed and implemented the City’s plans for climate adaptation and greenhouse gas reduction. Kerra has also served as the Executive Director of the Clean Air Strategic Alliance, where she learned the value of bringing together diverse interests to address complex sustainability challenges.
 
Kerra has recently completed a Master of Arts in Climate Action Leadership from Royal Roads University. She lives on Treaty 6 Territory, in the Homeland of the Métis Nation, and in a region that is home to one of the largest Inuit populations south of the 60th parallel.
 

Resources:

• From Disaster to Resilience: Grand Forks’ Transformation Through Floodplain Naturalization (Natural Assets Initiative)
• Sustainable Asset Valuation (SAVi) Report on Pelly's Lake and Stephenfield Reservoir, Manitoba (IISD)
• Financing for Natural Infrastructure Projects (IISD)
• Estimate of Natural Infrastructure Public Grant Funding in Canada and in the Canadian Prairies  (IISD)
• A Scan of Natural Infrastructure Approaches: Bright spots from the City of Nelson, Halifax Region Municipality, and EPCOR (IISD)
• The cost-effectiveness of nature-based solutions for reducing disaster risk (Nature-based Solutions Initiative)
• Natural Infrastructure for Water Solutions (NIWS)

Thanks to our webinar series partner:

Funded in part by: