• development of a CIP climate change policy,

• development of three learning modules (a 2-hour workshop, a 2-day workshop, and a series of university level lectures),

• a research fellowships & studio awards component,

• climate change adaptation planning assistance to the Nunavut communities of Clyde River and Hall Beach, and

• a planning related climate change symposium in Iqaluit (July 2008).

CIP’s draft climate change policy was completed in early 2008 and circulated to members, Affiliates, and stakeholder groups for review and comment. The policy aims to ensure that planners contribute to mitigating and adapting to climate change and includes 10 directives that call for CIP and its members to take specific actions. CIP is now addressing the feedback received on the policy and the policy will be submitted for final approval by CIP Council in January 2009. When it is finalized, the policy will form a core element of the three climate change learning modules.

The planning assistance provided to northern communities has been CIP’s most tangible work with respect to community level impacts. In 2007-2008, two teams of two planners each were sent to help develop climate change adaptation plans for Clyde River and Hall Beach. The teams made two trips to their host communities and worked with local agencies, planners and residents. As outputs, adaptation plans were developed and posters for display in the community, published in English and Inuktitut. CIP expects to make these resources available online to share with planners across Canada as part of a broader effort to develop best practices and other climate change tolls and resources for use by planners and others.

Building on the successes of our work to date, CIP will be focusing its next activities on three main areas:

• continuing our capacity building work,

• developing and implementing climate change tools for planners and others, and

• holding another planning and climate change conference in 2010.

CIP has recently begun a new project to continue our work on climate change adaptation plans for Northern Communities, this time in partnership with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Natural Resources Canada and the Government of Nunavut. This time, the teams will make more trips to the host communities over a longer period of time. Work will proceed with five more Northern Communities to develop adaptation plans which, combined with the plans already completed, will form a planning tool kit that the Government of Nunavut can use to implement a Territory-wide program, preparing climate change adaptation plans for all communities, and which can be used by other Territories. CIP is also exploring the possibility of undertaking climate change action plans with pilot communities in the southern part of Canada.

Our work to date has already yielded a number of valuable tools and resources for use by planners and others. We now need to ensure that they are deployed into practice. So we will be focusing on finalizing and implementing our three climate change learning modules and furthering our work on identifying and developing climate change tools for planners. And, in the interests of sharing information and promoting best practices, CIP intends to expand its online resources and establish a clearinghouse for planning related climate change information.

Finally, the success of our 2008 Climate Change Symposium in Iqaluit has inspired CIP to hold a nother conference on planning and climate change in 2010. This time the event will be national and international in scope, bringing together CIP, its affiliates, our federal partners, and a variety of stakeholders, including other Canadian organizations, and representatives from the national planning institutes of other countries. Through its national and international networks, CIP intends to bring together government, the science community, planners and others to share knowledge, build new networks, and learn about the innovative approaches that others are taking to deal with the impacts of climate. Tentative dates are being explored in September or October 2010.

For more information about CIP’s climate change initiatives, please contact Executive Director Steven Brasier: sbrasier@cip-icu.ca, or visit the CIP web site.