Adaptive Policy Analysis of Nova Scotia: Selected policies and programs of Nova Scotia Environment

The analysis evaluates three Nova Scotia policies—guides for surface and groundwater withdrawal and a plan for parks and protected areas—against 31 identified adaptation actions. While the policies support 24 of these actions and perform well in stakeholder consultation and networking, they struggle with formal review processes, decentralization consistency, and addressing the need for economic and technological resources. The report recommends formalizing informal review and consultation practices and diversifying policy instruments beyond regulatory tools to better support stakeholder adaptive capacity.

• Of the 31 identified adaptation actions for the environmental management sector, 24 were supported by at least one of the three analyzed policies.
• Water withdrawal policies performed well in mapping withdrawals and monitoring availability, but failed to adequately address the need for updating guiding documents or evaluating withdrawal requests specifically in the context of climate change impacts.
• The 'Our Parks and Protected Areas' plan successfully integrated climate scenarios and awareness raising, but it lacked effectiveness in monitoring climate impacts on wetlands and natural habitats or considering these factors in infrastructure planning.
• The analyzed policies rely primarily on regulatory instruments, leaving a gap in support for adaptive capacities related to financial resources, technology, and infrastructure.
• While stakeholder consultation and decentralization often occur through informal practices, these processes are not sufficiently formalized, which may lead to inconsistent application or unintended consequences.

APA

International Institute for Sustainable Development (2013). Adaptive Policy Analysis of Nova Scotia: Selected policies and programs of Nova Scotia Environment. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_nova_scotia.pdf

Chicago

International Institute for Sustainable Development. Adaptive Policy Analysis of Nova Scotia: Selected policies and programs of Nova Scotia Environment. 2013. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_nova_scotia.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=International Institute for Sustainable Development |title=Adaptive Policy Analysis of Nova Scotia: Selected policies and programs of Nova Scotia Environment |date=2013 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_nova_scotia.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{internationalinstituteforsustainabledevelopment2013adaptive, author = {{International Institute for Sustainable Development}}, title = {{Adaptive Policy Analysis of Nova Scotia: Selected policies and programs of Nova Scotia Environment}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2013}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/adaptool_nova_scotia.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }