The Ontario First Nations Technical Services Corporation (OFNTSC) gathered with more than 150 infrastructure and climate change risk professionals from Canadian and international governments, development agencies, NGOS, First Nations and private sector in the first ever PIEVC Global Forum in Vancouver, BC on April 18 - 20, 2023.
As a member of the PIEVC Alliance, OFNTSC participated in the PIEVC Global Forum which provided a unique opportunity for infrastructure practitioners and decision-makers from around the world to highlight best and emerging PIEVC practices in infrastructure and climate change vulnerability & risk assessment. The Forum also showcased Canadian expertise and indigenous initiatives that have demonstrated an innovative approach, tools, and directions to enhance the climate resilience of infrastructure, buildings, and services.
OFNTSC shared our development and experiences of the First Nations PIEVC (FN-PIEVC) which is currently part of the First Nations Infrastructure Resilience Toolkit (FN-iRT). OFNTSC demonstrated that the FN-PIEVC provides a systematic approach to identifying, assessing, and prioritizing climate change risks to infrastructure, and helps First Nations develop and implement adaptation measures to address those risks.
During the PIEVC Global Forum, OFNTSC provided a series of networking sessions on how the FN-PIEVC is part of the Climate Risk Institute’s growing family of available PIEVC resources to conduct climate risk & vulnerability assessments. The FN-PIEVC enables First Nations to forecast critical climate-related risks over the lifecycle of their assets and provides guidance on how these risks can be integrated into long-term planning.
The networking sessions also showcased how the FN-iRT is used to support community decision making during different stages of the infrastructure lifecycle and helps First Nations develop sound asset management practices, allowing them to maximize the service life of their assets, while maintaining or improving levels of service.
More information on the FN-iRT is available at https://firstnationsirt.org/