Research projects and publications

This project will provide hydropower producers with the robust scientific analyses to guide decision making in regards to climate change adaptations. The results will help determine whether the significance of recently observed floods is part of natural variability or if it is attributable to climate change, in which case, it may be relevant to adjust design criteria and management strategies accordingly.

Any stakeholder interested in hydroelectric asset valuation in the context of climate change now has access to a guide, validated by experts in the field, to help in carrying out rigorous assessments. The methods proposed in the Guidebook and the documented case studies will contribute to improving the consideration of climate change impacts in the valuation of hydroelectric assets.

This project provides a blueprint for Canadian dam managers to include climate change information into flood design values, and proposes solutions to address major sources of uncertainties. It offers a decision-making framework to assess and select adaptation options, mindful of dam managers’ operational context.

The mapping tool and model developed will better equip MFFP fisheries managers to evaluate salmonid habitats quality in Québec’s northern lakes and thereby prioritize actions to adapt their resource management measures according to the response of the fish habitats to climate change, based notably on changes in temperature and dissolved oxygen in the lakes.

The project results will help maintain the ecological integrity of the natural heritage of Northern Quebec by backing decisions and actions regarding land development and conservation in Nunavik with solid science that takes into account the effects of current and long-term climate change.

This state of knowledge offers a useful reference for political decision-makers, managers, community groups and local organizations seeking support for the planning of development, protection, conservation and resource management priorities

Better adaptation requires understanding. A good understanding requires observation. AVATIVUT educational activities encourage young people to observe their environment and help them understand the impact of climate change.

This project helped to engage and empower community members in a participatory process on climate change adaptation It also helped to recognize the importance of interactions between different knowledge systems focussing on solutions, and highlights the need to adopt a multidisciplinary and holistic approach

This new reference tool brings together and summarizes scientific advances on probable changes in hydroclimatic hazards and can be used for safer coastal planning and development and anticipation of potential risks.

This project will contribute to advance methods and metrics for adaptation monitoring and evaluation in critical infrastructure sectors.

The goal of this project is to promote the implementation of disability-inclusive climate change adaptation in the Montréal metropolitan area. It also aims to understand the influence of social, institutional, physical and economic barriers on the climate vulnerability of people with disabilities.

This report summarizes best practices in integrating climate change adaptation into seven decision-support tools used by organizations providing essential services supported by infrastructure networks requiring major investments.

The aim of this project was to analyze the practices followed in climate change risk and opportunity assessments (CROAs) conducted at the national level in 11 jurisdictions. This summary presents the findings from a review of the 11 selected CROA reports and semi-structured interviews with the CROA leaders. The 11 CROAs were examined based on 38 criteria grouped into three categories: framing, methodology and dissemination of results.  

The second phase of this project will begin to document the chain of consequences of water scarcity on a provincial scale, in terms of the cascading effects on the well-being of human populations and ecosystems.

This project aims to strengthen the climate resilience of Quebec’s dairy industry by developing innovative strategies for milk quality and animal welfare, both in the barn and at the processing step.

This project aims to produce and disseminate climate scenarios for assessing the impacts of greenhouse gases beyond 2100. Case studies will be done to illustrate their use in analyzing the climate vulnerabilities of mine site reclamation infrastructure. 

The aim of this project is to draw up an inventory of work in progress and work that has been completed over the past 10 years on green infrastructure in urban areas in Quebec. It will also help to unify Quebec’s experts on urban green infrastructure and support better coordination of their research.

This case study will generate hard data on the structure and impact of a continuing education initiative for municipal elected officials. The data will be used directly to improve the UMQ’s training offering, as well as other educational initiatives on adaptation for elected officials and municipal employees.

This project will provide knowledge to better adaptation strategies for production and management to ensure the sustainability of the important aquaculture industry and recreational tourism activities that depend on brook trout.

This project aims to study the benefits of a prospective, collaborative approach within two supramunicipal bodies in Quebec that are engaged in a collective adaptation process, to see if it can promote broad-based engagement in a more transformational, systemic kind of adaptation.

This project aims to address the lack of knowledge and resources for climate change adaptation within territorial food systems in Quebec, with a focus on the co-creation of learning resources to facilitate training and leadership. 

This aim of project is to quantify the current and future climate risks for apple production in Quebec to support the industry’s adaptation efforts.

This project aims to support the implementation of targeted climate adaptation strategies for populations experiencing homelessness, based on gender-based analysis with an intersectional approach (GBA+) and participatory action research methods.

The aim of this project is to fill a knowledge gap on the climate leadership of Quebec companies in climate change adaptation.

This project is a real-life case study on participatory governance being used in municipal settings to address climate change challenges at a regional scale.  The goal is to have public, community and private organizations and residents coordinate their adaptation efforts.

This project has highlighted combined climate events that should be prioritized in Quebec by targeting the information needs related to these events.

This project aims to deepen knowledge of the complexity associated with cascading failures of critical systems to improve understanding and enable better decision-making on this subject.

The project identified concrete examples of uses for the Agroclimatic Atlas, thereby introducing it to a larger number of stakeholders and promoting its use.

The knowledge resulting from this project will enable the development or revision of planning and action tools for decision makers in order to assist the crop protection sector to adapt to climate change.

A better understanding of the risks of flower frost damage and water stress in blueberry fields and the effect of climate change on these risks, as well as target profitability thresholds to be reached through yield increases to justify investing in an irrigation system

The RADEAU 1 and 2 projects exploited and structured the large quantity of existing data and developed new data in order to characterize the water balance of the regions under study in current and future climates, and thus help inform the government, regional actors and other studies on water management.

This project will inform various institutions about the contribution of UA to food security, food justice, individual and collective resilience with regard to food and adaptation to climate change in the Montréal metropolitan area.

A better understanding of the contribution of AEPs and agroforestry systems to wildlife movement in agricultural environments allows for the prioritization of land-use planning actions to promote their sustainability and effectiveness. In a changing context, the use of both natural and social science approaches is recommended to promote the adoption and sustainability of AEPs and agroforestry systems in agricultural areas.

Raising awareness among key fisheries stakeholders of the expected effects of global ocean changes on northern shrimp populations and fisheries based on new, robust findings.