MAINSTREAMING CLIMATE CHANGE INTEGRATED LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT, DECISION-SUPPORT & TOOL KIT

The briefing outlines the 'From Farms to Regions' project, which used a participatory framework and the Envision geospatial modelling platform to develop climate adaptation strategies for southeastern Ontario. By engaging stakeholders and analysts, the project identified key drivers of change—climate change, markets, and governance—and created five future scenarios (Business-as-Usual, Targeting foreign markets, Promoting the bioeconomy, Moving towards greener agriculture, and Living locally). These scenarios were used to quantify impacts on land use and environmental indicators, leading to the identification of over 50 adaptation actions clustered into farm-level changes, new insurance mechanisms, ecosystem service support, information tools, and public education. The document concludes with a framework for monitoring the integration of these adaptation measures into cross-sectoral policy and planning.

• The project identified three primary drivers of change for southeastern Ontario: climate change, markets and the economy, and governance and policy, with climate change acting as an overarching driver affecting all others.
• The project utilized the Envision modelling framework, a dynamic GIS-based spatial engine, to translate qualitative stakeholder scenarios into quantitative measures for landscape characteristics and policy impacts.
• Five future scenarios were developed to 2035: a Business-as-Usual (BAU) baseline and four alternatives: 'Targeting foreign markets', 'Promoting the bioeconomy', 'Moving towards greener agriculture', and 'Living locally'.
• Scenario modelling revealed varying environmental outcomes: 'Living locally' provided the highest support for a wide variety of species and the lowest risks to phosphorus loads, while 'Targeting global markets' had negative impacts on habitat.
• Stakeholders identified over 50 adaptation actions, categorized into five clusters: farm-level production adjustments, new risk-management tools like crop insurance, support for ecosystem goods and services, provision of GIS and forecasting tools, and public awareness/education.
• The document proposes a monitoring framework to track the mainstreaming of adaptation, using indicators such as the number of municipal plans including adaptation actions and the frequency of cross-sectoral consultations.

APA

Waldick, R., Bizikova, L., Bolte, J., MacDonald, D., Zaytseva, A., Lindsay, K., White, D., Gasser, P. Y., Mitchell, S., Vache, K., & Swanson, D. (2015). MAINSTREAMING CLIMATE CHANGE INTEGRATED LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT, DECISION-SUPPORT & TOOL KIT. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mainstreaming-climate-change-toolkit-briefing-note.pdf

Chicago

Waldick, Ruth, Livia Bizikova, John Bolte, Dan MacDonald, Anna Zaytseva, Kathy Lindsay, Denis White, et al. MAINSTREAMING CLIMATE CHANGE INTEGRATED LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT, DECISION-SUPPORT & TOOL KIT. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2015. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mainstreaming-climate-change-toolkit-briefing-note.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Waldick |first1=Ruth |last2=Bizikova |first2=Livia |last3=Bolte |first3=John |last4=MacDonald |first4=Dan |last5=Zaytseva |first5=Anna |last6=Lindsay |first6=Kathy |last7=White |first7=Denis |last8=Gasser |first8=Pierre Yves |last9=Mitchell |first9=Scott |display-authors=etal |title=MAINSTREAMING CLIMATE CHANGE INTEGRATED LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT, DECISION-SUPPORT & TOOL KIT |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=2015 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mainstreaming-climate-change-toolkit-briefing-note.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{waldick2015mainstreaming, author = {Waldick, Ruth and Bizikova, Livia and Bolte, John and MacDonald, Dan and Zaytseva, Anna and Lindsay, Kathy and White, Denis and Gasser, Pierre Yves and Mitchell, Scott and Vache, Kellie and Swanson, Darren}, title = {{MAINSTREAMING CLIMATE CHANGE INTEGRATED LANDSCAPE ASSESSMENT, DECISION-SUPPORT \& TOOL KIT}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2015}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/mainstreaming-climate-change-toolkit-briefing-note.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }