A Seabound Coast: Building Flood Resilience in Rural Nova Scotia

Abstract

Coastal flooding, driven by increasing severity of storms and rising sea levels, is a growing threat to rural coastal communities in Atlantic Canada, and can sever their access to essential services. The fishing village of Gabarus in Cape Breton is a community which relies on the sea for its livelihood and is simultaneously threatened by it. Using Gabarus as a test site, this thesis proposes strategies for building resilience. The buildings and people here have had to adapt over decades to shifting environmental conditions, and must continue to do so. Through field studies and archival interviews, these traditions and adaptations are studied not only as evidence of resilience, but also as a body of local knowledge. The thesis proposes a retreat strategy together with a network of shelters and repair shops which translate this local knowledge, embody it as a living archive, and help the village adapt for the future.