2000/20 (a)

BACKGROUNDER

PRAIRIE ADAPTATION RESEARCH COOPERATIVE

The Prairie Adaptation Research Cooperative (PARC) will support interdisciplinary research on adaptation to the impacts of climate change on the Prairies. It will be a network of researchers in federal, provincial and university institutions and other organizations in the three Prairie provinces.

PARC will coordinate and encourage collaborative research among sectors and disciplines, and, through the training of new graduates, will act as a focal point for the professional development of researchers in this emerging field of study. The objective of the research activities will be to minimize the possible negative impacts of climate change and to take advantage of new economic or environmental opportunities that may arise.

Research priorities encompass many sectors, including agriculture, forestry, water resources, energy and communities. Research supported by PARC will highlight the climatic sensitivity of these sectors as well as links between them. It will also assist in developing adaptation strategies that have practical applications to decision making. In addition to focussing on the particular needs of the Prairies, PARC will help bring stakeholders together to address national and sectoral issues.

Structure
Guidance for the operation of PARC will be provided by a Board consisting of senior representatives of the federal government, the three Prairie provincial governments and other organizations.

The PARC director and four research coordinators will identify opportunities to broaden the scope of research activities through integration or extension of work being carried out elsewhere. They will help draw people together from a variety of disciplines to address priority impacts and adaptation issues.

Currently a steering committee, comprising representatives from three federal government departments, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and the University of Regina, is overseeing the PARC activities until the Board and directors are in place.

Quick-start projects
The steering committee will be issuing an open call for proposals for project funding of more than $1 million in 2000-2001, but, in the interim, it has identified some projects that provide a quick start (see backgrounder B). These projects expand on existing initiatives, are generally prairie-wide and will produce significant outputs by March 31, 2001.

As well, regional workshops were held recently in Winnipeg and Edmonton to identify important sectoral and cross-sectoral research issues and to develop partnerships and strategies to address them.

Funding
Funding of $3 million has been allocated for this fiscal year and next by the Climate Change Action Fund. This fund was established by the Government of Canada in 1998 and extended in the 2000 federal budget. Additional support for PARC of $400,000 is provided by Western Economic Diversification to cover rent for the PARC office in the Petroleum Technology Research Centre at the University of Regina.

For more information, please contact:

Don Lemmen
Terrain Sciences Division
Geological Survey of Canada (Calgary)
403-292-7184