Improving resources to assess climate change coastal vulnerability: a pre-assessment criteria of the socio-economic values of working waterfront infrastructures in Nova Scotia

Abstract

The scientific community has stated that coastal zones will be among the zones that would suffer major negative consequences in terms of climate change effects. Nova Scotia, as a coastal province, is not absolved of such predictions. Working waterfront facilities are infrastructures that are always exposed to the inclement weather events, such as hurricanes, and would be threatened by future coastal hazards, such as sea level rise. Although full and detailed vulnerability and risk assessments are evaluations that could contribute to determine the level of risk a facility is exposed to, pre-assessment have been seen as useful tool to broadly estimate potential loss in terms of values. One such pre assessment tool is the Nova Scotia Coastal Infrastructure Assessment Tool (CIAT) used to determine economic vulnerability of working waterfronts. This graduate project seeks to complement the CIAT by incorporating an additional criteria in which the societal and non-fishery based economic values of working waterfront facilities are assessed together with the financial and economic fishery based values. The method used to build the Socio-economic Pre-Assessment Criteria (SEPAC) was the inventory of other uses and activities at working waterfronts, which consisted of literature online searches, site visits, and expert consultation. The SEPAC was also tested by two Nova Scotia Department of Fishery and Aquaculture (NS-DFA) staff. A focus group comprising of representatives from the NS-DFA and the Federal Small Craft’s Harbour (Division of Department of Fisheries and Oceans) was also conducted to obtain feedback on the SEPAC and the practical implications for decision-making. Overall, the SEPAC appears to be a pre-assessment component that (i) represents socio-economic values that working waterfront offers to local citizen and visitors, (ii) is practical and easy to assess, and (iii) is a potential assessment component that could guide future assessments and decision-making in terms of prioritising infrastructures in regards of their values.