Community climate resilience framework: a customizable model for adapting to climate change

As climate change intensifies, communities are facing impacts of extreme weather events such as wildfires, floods, and heatwaves. While mitigation remains essential, there is a growing need for locally grounded and participatory climate adaptation strategies. This thesis develops a conceptual Community Climate Resilience Framework that expands upon traditional climate risk, and vulnerability assessments by anchoring adaptation planning in community-defined values. Through a mixed-methods approach—including desktop research, a pilot study with the Town of Gibsons, semi-structured interviews, and policy analysis—the research explores how climate risk assessments are currently conducted in rural communities and opportunities for applying a value-based approach to community climate resilience. Findings highlight the importance of participatory engagement, integration with emergency management processes, and the use of local data and values in resilience planning. The Community Climate Resilience Framework offers a flexible, actionable model particularly well-suited for smaller communities. The study concludes with recommendations for provincial government, local authorities, and consultants supporting community climate resilience and risk management planning. Future research directions can include integration of resilience for natural and animal inhabitants of community, cross-sectoral accountability mapping, and development of climate resilience efficacy metrics.