2017 Designing Resilience Conference

17:00

Welcome Remarks
• Dr. Larry Kostiuk, Associate Vice-President (Research) and Director, Future Energy Systems
• Josef Beck, Consul General of Germany, Vancouver

17:15

KEYNOTE LECTURE: Designing Resilient Climate Change Programs

Lecture by Dr. Felix Christian Matthes, Forschungskoordinator Energie-und Klimapolitik Energie und Klimaschutz, Öko-Institut, Berlin

09:00

Welcome Remarks

• Dr. Walter Dixon, Interim Vice-President (Research), University of Alberta
• Josef Beck, German Consul General

09:15

SESSION 1: Resilient climate policy implementation: weathering political shocks

How do we design our climate policy implementation to withstand political shocks such as the withdrawal of US support for the Paris Agreement? How do we maintain public support for climate policy at the local, regional and federal levels and communicate about climate policy to maintain public support? How are these messages received quite differently by different audiences? Despite general public support for climate change action, policy implementation can encounter hurdles from particular stakeholders. What are the political threats to implementation? How can climate policies be designed to withstand these threats?

Moderator:

• Dr. Eran Kaplinsky, Research Director, Alberta Land Institute, University of Alberta

Panelists:

• Dr. Sara Hastings-Simon, Pembina Institute, Canada
• Dr. Dev Jennings, Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta
• Dr. Frank Schilling, Helmholtz ITAS in Karlsruhe
• Dr. Lori Thorlakson, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Science & Director of European Union Centre of Excellence, University of Alberta

10:30

Coffee break

11:00

SESSION 2: Resilient climate responses: responding to economic shocks

How can Canada and Germany achieve their Paris Agreement climate policy commitments when the market moves in unexpected ways? In Germany, the low EU carbon price has stood in the way of a swift transition away from the use of brown coal for electricity production. How do the experiences of Germany and Canada compare in their attempt to phase out coal? How have they dealt with the stranded asset problem? In Canada, how successful have various carbon pricing regimes been? How has the fall in the oil price and subsequent recession in Alberta affected its energy transition?

Moderator:

• Dr. Vic Adamowicz, Vice-Dean, Faculty of Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta

Panelists:

• Dr. Bev Dahlby, Canada’s Eco-fiscal Commission
• Dr. Heather Eckert, Faculty of Arts, University of Alberta
• Dr. Felix Matthes, Öko-Institut, Berlin

12:15

Networking Lunch

13:15

SESSION 3: Resilient communities: Adaptive capacities of communities

What happens when the impacts of energy transition or climate change disproportionately fall on certain communities? How do vulnerable communities adapt? How can our climate policy implementation foster resilient communities?

Moderator:

• Dr. Sandeep Agrawal, Inaugural Director, Urban and Regional Planning Program, University of Alberta

Panelists:

• Dr. Leith Deacon, PI of the Boom/Bust in Canada project (Earth and Atmospheric Science, University of Alberta)
• Detlef Gerdts, Head of the Department for Environment, City of Osnabrück, Germany
• Dr. Naomi Krogman, Faculty of Agriculture, Life, and Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta
• Reeve Paul McLauchlin, Representative of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) and Reeve of Ponoka County

14:30

Coffee Break

15:00

SESSION 4: The municipal role in climate change strategy

What role do municipalities play in the implementation of climate change agreements? What have been the greatest successes of municipal action? Have unexpected challenges played a role in these policy responses?

Moderator:

• Dr. Sandeep Agrawal, Inaugural Director, Urban and Regional Planning Program, University of Alberta

Panelists:

• Mark Brostrom, Director of Environmental Strategies, City of Edmonton
• Detlef Gerdts, Head of the Department for Environment, City of Osnabrück, Germany
• Dr. Kevin Edson Jones, City Region Studies Centre, University of Alberta (Kevin was unable to participate due to illness)
  
• Reeve Paul McLauchlin, Representative of the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties (AAMDC) and Reeve of Ponoka County (taking the place of Kevin Jones)
  
• Bernd Tischler, Oberbuergermeister of the city of Bottrop (via tele-conference)
  
  

16:30

Closing Remarks

• Dr. Lori Thorlakson, Director, European Union Centre of Excellence, University of Alberta