The Serving Rural & Remote Communities project will empower rural, remote and Indigenous communities
to develop innovative solutions that lead to better housing and safer technical equipment in the face of climate change.
The Serving Rural & Remote Communities: Co-developing Place-Based Climate Resilient Solutions centres rural and remote communities and what they need to flourish in the face of climate challenges.
The $1-million, four-year research project is a partnership between researchers at Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria, along with colleagues from the University of Waterloo and the University of Washington, and the First Nations Housing and Infrastructure Council, BC Housing and Technical Safety BC.
This project aims to enable and empower rural, remote and Indigenous communities through co-developing innovative solutions that lead to better housing and safer technical equipment in the face of changing climates in those communities. Those changes, in turn, would support greater health, safety and climate resiliency.
Current codes and standards for buildings and technical equipment may require updating for projected climate changes and current extreme climate events. Existing and planned infrastructure in these communities are therefore vulnerable to impacts and communities are less able to reach net-zero carbon emissions.
The team seeks to merge place-based traditional knowledge, or Indigenous science, with academic research, to inform changes in housing policy and safety regulation for technical safety within buildings (such as electrical and mechanical systems). Those improvements would help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the risks of climate impacts to communities.
Researchers are also seeking to establish long-term partnerships beyond the project that build and strengthen B.C.’s research community and its international leadership in the areas of low-carbon resiliency.
PICS Theme Partnership Project: Begins April 2023 / Project duration: 4 years
