Who we are
Partners for Action (P4A) is a research initiative that seeks to empower Canadians to become flood resilient by promoting awareness and preparedness actions that are inclusive and evidence-based.
Why our work is important
Across Canada, damage from extreme weather has cost taxpayers and insurers almost $10 billion since 1998. The true cost of these disasters is measured by how resilient individuals and communities are. Multiple social deprivations can leave populations unable to recover from a major shock, like a flood event. Natural hazard events are occuring more frequently and are augmented by climate change. In light of this evolving context, it's important to consider equity and resilience by directing resources and supports toward those who are most adversely affected.
What is a resilient community?
Flood resiliency involves the promotion of flood awareness and preparedness, as well as strategies to adapt to and to prevent flooding events.
A resilient community uses a combination of structural (such as dams and berms) and non-structural (such as policies, plans, and procedures) adaptation strategies and learns from past disasters in order to minimize the impacts of flooding and recover quickly.
Building community-engaged flood resiliency must be a part of our national climate adaptation strategy. P4A aims to accelerate community resilience by taking a systems-based approach, communicating early and often, and prioritizing the exploration of solutions at a watershed level to link downstream communities in partnership toward a common goal.
Featured Report:
The Canadian Voices on Flood Risk 2020 Report (PDF) shows findings from a national survey about how Canadian's view the increasingly costly and common natural disaster, flooding. The report was developed in collaboration with Anna Ziolecki, Jason Thistlewaite, Daniel Henstra, and Daniel Scott. It addresses the large flooding problem within Canada and delves into why public awareness on flood risk continues to be so low despite growing urgency.
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News
Spring 2025 Recap
Throughout 2024 and now carrying forward into 2025, Partners for Action (P4A) has continued to build on the momentum gained over the past few years. P4A is especially grateful for the continued support of our founding funders, Co-operators and Farm Mutual Re, over the past decade which has helped to elevate issues to the forefront of national conversation, such as the need for accessible flood maps and insurance coverage for a changing climate, and catalyzed initiatives and knowledge sharing.Â
Read about our 10-year impact, spotlighted in this Faculty of Environment's news feature, and check out our Spring 2025 Â for project updates, recent publications, and key resources!
P4A releases new report on Inclusive Resilience
In 2024, Partners for Action (P4A) wrapped up Inclusive Resilience, a multi-year research partnership that sought to increase awareness of disaster risks and promote inclusive approaches, tools, and actions that foster equitable disaster risk reduction and emergency preparedness across Canada. To achieve this objective, the Canadian Red Cross, funded by Public Safety Canada, commissioned P4A to carry out two strands of research on: public outreach and inclusive risk communications, and the spatial distribution of social vulnerability and flood exposure.
Visit our website to learn more about this work and to read our newest report, Inclusive Resilience: A socio-economic vulnerability index to map flood risk for targeted communications and disaster risk reduction.
Retreating from Risk: Advancing equitable managed retreat through an international research partnership
Partners for Action (P4A) is pleased to announce that a P4A-supported research grant has been funded by the New Frontiers in Research Fund-International and National Science Foundation.
Led by principal investigator, Dr. Brent Doberstein, from the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, this multi-year, multi-disciplinary research partnership will advance research on transformative flood adaptation approaches. Institutional and community partners from across three countries–Canada, Indonesia, and the United States, will explore how strategic relocation–the purposeful relocation of homes, buildings, and assets from high-risk areas impacted by climate change–can be integrated within community planning processes.
Learn more about this transformative research partnership!