ClimateWest Forum: Building Climate Resilience (virtual)

The Canadian Prairies are a hotspot for climate change —not just within Canada, but across the world. Being prepared, proactive, and working together is essential to building climate resilience in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

The ClimateWest Forum will bring together a wide range of sectors, communities, knowledges, and perspectives from across our provinces. The theme for this year’s free, hybrid event is “Building Climate Resilience: Being prepared. Working together. Creating change.”

Sessions will explore how to build climate resilience in an inclusive, collaborative way. Join us for the whole forum or tune in to the session(s) of your choice!

Registration: This event page is for virtual registration. If you would like to attend in-person, please visit our in-person event page.

What can you expect?

• Hear from climate experts with a prairie-perspective.
• Explore inclusive and collaborative approaches to building stronger, more climate resilient communities.
• Learn about the role of ClimateWest as the regional climate services hub for Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

Agenda

The forum organizing committee has developed an agenda packed with prairie-specific climate experts.

What topics will be covered?

While we are still finalizing the session descriptions, we can confirm the following topics:

• KEYNOTE SESSION: Weaving Indigenous Knowledges to Enhance Climate Resilience
• Mental Health and Climate Change
• Local Initiatives for Climate Action and Resiliency
• Youth Perspectives on Climate Action

View the agenda. Please note that the agenda is subject to change.

Land Acknowledgement

ClimateWest’s work occurs on the traditional land of Treaties 1 through 8, and 10. This area includes many Indigenous Nations. The ClimateWest office is located on Treaty 1 Territory, the historic meeting place of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Inninewuk, Anishininiwag, Dakota and Dene, and the Homeland of the Métis Nations.

The 2024 ClimateWest Forum is being held in ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Amiskwacîwâskahikan) within Treaty 6 Territory and the Métis Homeland. The City of Edmonton is home to one of the largest Inuit populations south of the 60th parallel.

The photo above shows the Tawatinâ Bridge, a shared-use pathway featuring over 500 paintings of the River Valley’s flora and fauna, and the First Nations, Métis, and settler histories of the area. Bridging the city, the art works show the intertwined lives of the people and the non-human beings who live and travel through here. The photo above shows the Tawatinâ Bridge, a shared-use pathway featuring over 500 paintings of the River Valley’s flora and fauna, and the First Nations, Métis, and settler histories of the area. Bridging the city, the art works show the intertwined lives of the people and the non-human beings who live and travel through here. We chose to use this image to reflect the intentions of this event: bridging and braiding Indigenous* and Western knowledges to better advance climate resilience.

Read more about the artist, David Garneau, and the Tawatinâ Bridge project on the Edmonton Arts Council website.

Photo credit: Brandon Mattice / Explore Edmonton

*including First Nations, Métis and Inuit knowledges

Sustainability

ClimateWest is conscious of emissions from travel and as such, we are pleased to be hosting a hybrid event. As our network covers three provinces, we will rotate the event throughout the three provinces each year.

Our goal is to balance the benefit of face-to-face collaboration with the need to travel. We use the following principles when planning the annual ClimateWest Forum:

• Host the event in locations where a larger number of interested network members are currently located
• Invite local speakers wherever possible
• Plan future agendas to focus on local speakers
• Select a venue that shares our commitment to hosting sustainable events (download Delta Hotels Edmonton South sustainability practices) and is easily accessible by public transport.

The ClimateWest Forum will also be bullfrogpowered with 100% green electricity.

This means that Bullfrog Power’s generators put 100% green power into the grid to match the amount of conventional electricity the forum used, displacing energy from polluting sources. Across Canada, Bullfrog Power’s green electricity comes from a blend of wind and low-impact hydro power sourced from new Canadian renewable energy facilities. For more information on Bullfrog’s green energy, visit www.bullfrogpower.com.

Sponsorship

Interested in helping to keep this event free? We have a range of sponsorship packages for financial and in-kind contributions. Contact us or download our sponsorship package.