Case studies

Alternatives

Assessing the adaptive capacity of a community in Canada’s Arctic to respond and adapt to the real and anticipated impacts of climate change requires the analysis of factors that determine how well enabled a community is to plan and implement climate change adaptation measures. These factors include: awareness, skills, knowledge, and resources. Focusing climate change adaptation capacity on enhancing the ability for community members to respond to climate stressors, while also potentially reducing community vulnerability to future climate conditions, increases the ability of the community to successfully adjust to climatic changes. To assess the adaptive capacity of Hall Beach, the descriptors Awareness, Skills, Knowledge, and Resources were used to express overall adaptive capacity for the community in a relatively simple manner. Throughout the planning process, the Project Team gathered data relevant to the community of Hall Beach in order to assess the community’s overall adaptive capacity.

It was determined that ongoing efforts in monitoring, skill development, and education would be needed in the community. These and other items are summarized in Table 6. The Action Plan Summary is the culmination of the planning efforts and provides preliminary guidelines to future development and decision making by the community.