Two projects by the Government of Canada have increased the capacity of New Brunswick’s engineers, land-use planning professionals, and environmental non-government organizations to adapt to climate change in the buildings sector through education, training, and certification.

The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Natural Resources, recently shared the results of the two projects. These projects were funded under the Natural Resources Canada–led BRACE Program, a five-year, $18-million initiative. The BRACE Program works with provinces to support training and knowledge exchange that increases the ability of organizations, businesses, and communities to adapt and accelerate their climate resilience. This program’s results will also support the development of the Canada Green Buildings Strategy thanks to the benefits of training for engineers who will contribute to developing a greener vision of building design.

The first project is the “Natural and Nature-Based Infrastructure Capacity Building for Engineers, Land Use Planners and Environmental Organizations in New Brunswick”, led by the New Brunswick Environmental Network (NBEN). It built capacity among industry professionals to better apply natural and nature-based infrastructure principles, processes, and projects into climate change adaptation work.

This initiative showed that nature-based and natural infrastructures are cheaper and easier to implement, have low maintenance costs and produce multiple benefits. Over time, as knowledge and expertise are mainstreamed and partnerships are established, nature-based infrastructure approaches can be used much more quickly and efficiently. Through this project, the NBEN has implemented and maintained a community of practice, provided training opportunities and resources, linked various initiatives, piloted projects, and created resources such as a case studies map.

The second project, led by the Université de Moncton, is a climate change adaptation capacity-building project for New Brunswick engineers providing training and resources on how to incorporate future climate change considerations into their practice. This involved developing an adaptation and resilience toolkit that demonstrates how to apply tools and guidelines to help practitioners apply the latest codes and standards and conduct climate risk assessments, including the certification of numerous engineers in this field. Practicing engineers, as well as engineering educators and students, also attended national and provincial training workshops, resulting in the development of a national best-practices primer on the training of engineers in climate change adaptation.

Additionally, this project involved the development of the Climate Change Adaptation Resource Pathway (ARP) for Engineering and Built Infrastructure. This interactive document helps adaptation practitioners at all levels navigate the vast array of information available on engineering and built infrastructure and incorporate it in their planning and design work.

Collaboration to address climate change risks, share expertise and knowledge, and provide training to develop skills, which will help with the better uptake of nature-based infrastructure solutions.