Missional Project: Healthy Coastlines and climate change preparedness through citizen science.

Community/parish name and address: Parish of Port Dufferin, 92 Smiley Point Road, Port Dufferin, HRM, NS. B0J 2R0 in Partnership with the Diocesan Environment Network

Because of climate change, there is need to be prepared for future extreme climate events in communities along the Eastern shore that involves a community based and focused understanding of the impact of climate change and the benefits of maintaining healthy coastlines.

This project is framed on living out the Anglican Church’s commitment to the 5th Mark of Mission: increasing awareness of ecosystem protection, safeguarding the “integrity of creation and sustaining and renewing the earth's life”.

In rural communities where generational relationships are built on harmonizing with nature, the feeling of being submissive and vulnerable to the weather and climate change has become dramatic. Fishing families are not strangers to the power of the sea and the weather. They are now seeing dramatic changes to their lives and livelihood.

Because of the intensity of storms, communities have rallied by way of volunteer support. Neighbours have helped neighbours, where and when possible, and safe centers have been created where community members can come and have a meal and obtain water for washing and drinking.

In the context of increasing climate-related risks, the conservation of coastal ecosystems is crucial. Most initiatives related to climate change focus on adaptation of daily life to its effects and improving energy efficiency, but not much attention has been paid to the power of nature to defend us. Governments are doing as much as they can to monitor the health of coastal ecosystems, but we need sufficient and reliable information for timely decision making. Local communities and civil society could support the generation of knowledge related to the restoration or degradation of those key ecosystems and how we can reduce the effects of climate change on people. Citizen science can be a powerful tool to accomplish that.

Meetings are being held at Marine Drive Academy, Sheet Harbour to discuss the project and we are developing a partnership between the Parish of Port Dufferin and the school’s Oceans 11 program. This will increase the capacity of youth in the communities the parish serves to deal with climate change and its impact on their communities and coastal ecosystems. Working alongside the community, the church, in its effort to care for creation, can build a stronger relationship with the communities it serves, and the response so far is generating excitement in the community.

The project has been developed to enable data collection for research that will contribute to healthy coastlines, engage people, and empower them so they can have a positive impact on climate change, and build stronger relations between the church and the communities they serve.

As a result, the communities we serve on the Eastern Shore will be better prepared for extreme climate events. Each participating church, and its partners, will have protocols for identifying natural alerts that can trigger early warnings and quick responses. The contribution to the impact of climate change on the coastline by communities could lead to increased commitment by the church, and a stronger sense of community inside and outside the church.

The project aims to create a sense of preparedness within coastal communities on the Eastern Shore, based on increased knowledge of coastal ecosystems conservation. Therefore, the first guarantee of long-term sustainability is that participants won’t be motivated by a short-term action, but by the possibility to improve their day-to-day lives.

The project takes place over a 10-month period and has four stages. The first stage includes the characterization of the environmental assets of coastal sectors where the Anglican churches are located, including their parish communities (Months 1-3).  The second stage focuses on training local groups as coastal monitors with simple but robust parameters (e.g. vegetation species, beach profile, coastal currents, pluviosity, etc. (Months 3-6). The third stage involves implementing a coastal monitoring network based on the online submission of data by each local group (Months 5-8).  Finally, the fourth stage focuses on the design of communicative pieces for publication and presentations using internal and external channels for sharing results (Months 9-10).

As well as applying got micro grants that would support the project as an ongoing process in the coming years, and proposals for funding that community leaders might suggest, this project could be considered seed funding, and become part of a megaproject, “Transforming Climate Action (TCA)”, led by Dalhousie University in conjunction with three other universities in Atlantic Canada. One of the scientists involved in our proposal is currently a visiting researcher at Dalhousie University. He is proposing the Eastern Shore as a case study for this megaproject; if it is materialized, our project could be extended for three years (2024-2027) with funding coming from TCA. Examples of funding opportunities include: COLC event grants for Ocean Week Canada action, Rural Community Foundation Climate Action, Grant for Youth leadership and Adults, Community grants from East Coast Credit Union, HRM Council Discretionary funding.

At this time, this project has received funding from: the Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, Hurricane Fiona Resilience Response Project (conditional on approval by the other two funders), the Diocesan Environment Network of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and Mission Outreach Project Grants (already approved). We are awaiting approval from the Anglican Foundation of Canada, Viriditas—God’s Greening Power Grant. We are also searching for new partners and grants to reach as many coastal communities on the Eastern Shore as we can.

Participation from people and community-based organizations along the Eastern Shore, with the various perspectives and knowledge they bring is critical to our success.

Thank you for agreeing to be involved.

Website:  https://telegra.ph/Healthy-Coasts-Project-03-22

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/101542159983749/

Application form for volunteers: https://forms.gle/czyRfPivwgFJu8wAA

Email: endionspei@gmail.com

Phone: 902-483-6866