Mobilizing Natural Assets Management (NAM) knowledge with Planners

Insights from the Atlantic Planners Conference

As climate change concerns shift professional practice, severe weather events such as post-tropical storm Fiona (Sep 14 – 28, 2022) demonstrates the need to work with the power of nature when addressing ageing infrastructure.

In 2022, prior to the fury of Hurricane Fiona in Atlantic Canada, Resilience by Design Lab and Municipal Natural Assets Management (MNAI) had convened a national Challenge Dialogue, focused on identifying next steps for advancing natural assets management into a recognized professional community. A summary of this work was presented by Dr. Liese Coulter at the Fall 2022 Atlantic Planners Conference in Charlottetown, PEI which convened a few weeks after Hurricane Fiona hit the area. The workshop was timely, and also included presentations by Adam Cheeseman (Nature New Brunswick) Adrian Prado (CSRNO) and Matt Delorme, Atlantic Infrastructure Management Network (AIM).

Participants shared experiences and opinions on the planning and implementation of natural infrastructure (NI) and natural assets management (NAM) with insights on:

· starting points for immediate action,

· the leverage points required to change professional norms, and

· partnership opportunities that build collaboration.

The final report, Mobilizing NAM knowledge with Planners, was published in late Feb 2023 and is now available on the MNAI website, providing insights on from participants attending this conference.