In the three years that CLIMAtlantic has been in operation, executive director, Sabine Dietz, has seen the role of the organization change and evolve to reflect what’s happening around her.

That being said, the basic concept is still in place: CLIMAtlantic is a regional hub for climate services focussed on adaptation, funded by both the federal and provincial governments. It’s an information and expertise clearinghouse, with a team of 21 workers stationed throughout the Atlantic provinces who aim to, as Dietz puts it, “Help people make better decisions in the face of climate change.”

By people, Dietz means anyone: from local, provincial, or federal governments to individual homeowners.

“Decisions run the gamut – anything from buying a house somewhere to building a major piece of infrastructure,” says Dietz.

But while CLIMAtlantic’s basic work supporting adaptation is the same, the attitude has changed, as has Dietz’ language. When the organization opened its doors, in 2021, Dietz still talked about the need for “climate proofing.” She doesn’t use that term anymore.

“You cannot climate proof things or people,” she says. “With the disruptiveness of climate change there’s a constant need to adjust along the way.”

Dietz points to the current call for the fortification of the dyke system that protects the Chignecto Isthmus, the strip of land that connects New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The taller, stronger dykes planned to protect the major transportation corridor are not a final solution, says Dietz.

“None of our adaptation projects are a solution to the problem.” she says. “They are only a part of the larger steps that we need to take to reduce risk.”

CLIMAtlantic is now encouraging its clients to “think more critically about our future.” The focus is not only on what physical infrastructure is needed in the face of climate change, but what critical, and sometimes difficult, questions are being asked.

Take the hypothetical case of a bridge under threat of washout due to flooding. In that situation, Dietz suggests posing the following questions: “Do we need the bridge? Why is it being flooded all the time? How is this going to look in the future? What else is associated with this bridge, such as community at the other side?”

The answers to those questions might not always lead to a bigger bridge. In some cases, they could lead to responses like managed retreat, says Dietz.

If the bridge connects a low-lying community along a coastline, then the long-term viability of that community needs to come into consideration, she says. If the community itself will be underwater in 50 years, then the plan to address the flooded bridge might change with that realization.

“Within 50 years, you'll have to think about what pieces of this community you’re going to move,” says Dietz. “So, are you going to rebuild the bridge in the same place and just make it really high to withstand the sea level rise and storm surges?”

Perhaps, she says, you choose to rebuild a functional bridge in the short term, while you assess the wider community issues and responses. Ultimately, it’s about developing a resiliency and adaptation mindset for people, organizations and governments, she says, moving from “I need to do a project and I'm fixing things,” towards “I need to incorporate this thinking into everything.”

When Canada’s national adaptation strategy was published, Dietz realized there was work to do in Atlantic Canada, building more capacity to be able to make use of the programs and funding. Starting in January, CLIMAtlantic will be coordinating on and offline training modules to help the region’s climate change-focussed workers properly tackle adaptation.

The modules will include things like political systems understanding, and how to have difficult community conversations about how best to prepare for and adapt to the disruptions of climate change.

The idea is to “have enough people trained in not just understanding climate change, and what adaptation is and isn’t,” says Dietz, but also in bigger questions such as food security, housing, infrastructure, and transportation. “You're talking about all of these things at the same time.”

“It’s a much more complicated story now than it was three years ago,” she says. “And we are part of having those very complicated, concrete conversations on the ground.”

The Climate Story Network is an initiative of Climate Focus, a non-profit organization dedicated to covering stories about community-driven climate solutions.