The authors suggest that as climate change impacts worsen, it is increasingly important that planners are equipped with the skill sets necessary to implement comprehensive, long-range adaptation action; however, some foundational elements are lacking in planning programs across Canada.
In this paper the authors lay out the foundation of professional planning in Canada, outlining the regulatory powers of the governing bodies, and how they shape planning education. They explore how climate change, and adaptation in particular, is incorporated into core programing across accredited planning programs in Canada, and identify the key strengths and weaknesses of planners based on key actor interviews and supported by academic literature. The authors assess how weaknesses in professional planning education programs may create barriers to comprehensive adaptation action in the planning community and, building on the key takeaways from interviews, identify aspects of the programming that could be improved to better provide planners with the skills they need to build adaptive capacity in municipalities across Canada.
The journal article can be accessed for free here: https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X241242059
Full citation:
Birchall, SJ., MacDonald, S., Bonnett, N. (2024). Climate change adaptation planning: Breaking down barriers through comprehensive educational frameworks. Journal of Planning Education and Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X241242059.