Town of Bruderheim – Resilient Rurals: Project Assistants

Overview 

The Town of Bruderheim received $80,000 to support the Resilient Rurals collaborative partnership and retain two Project Assistants. 

This project was funded by the Government of Alberta through the Climate Resilience Capacity Building Program.    

Approach 

Resilient Rurals is a partnership between the Towns of Bruderheim, Lamont and Gibbons for a regional climate adaptation and resilience project in Alberta’s Industrial Heartland Region. The Town of Bruderheim leads the partnership and works to advance adaptation, emergency management, and resilience programs and projects in Bruderheim and across rural communities in Alberta. 

Through this project, Bruderheim retained two dedicated staff for the Resilient Rurals project. Working alongside the Project Manager and Town staff members, the team developed communications materials and best practice guides, engaged with community members and built awareness around emergency preparedness, and implemented several climate adaptation programs and initiatives. 

Results 

As a result of this project, the Resilient Rurals team developed and implemented the following climate adaptation and emergency preparedness initiatives, many of which are publicly available and accessible for rural communities within Alberta’s Industrial Heartland, and beyond: 

• A Communications Plan which was executed via Resilient Rurals social media, sharing information about climate risks, safety, and adaptation. 

• Social Media Toolkit – a series of publicly available posts and infographics that are publicly available for other communities to use for social media or newsletters to build community awareness and share information about preparing for extreme events. 

• Rural Assist Program – a registry service that enables residents with pre-existing conditions or reduced mobility who may need additional assistance during an emergency event to receive alerts, request assistance, and connect with Town Staff. 

• Resilient Rurals Community Cooling Centres Guide – a framework for policymakers and service providers in rural municipalities to develop community cooling centres in response to periods of extreme heat. 

• Rural Ready Program Guide – a program featuring mock scenarios for extreme weather and isolated technological events to enhance emergency awareness and prepare residents, municipal employees, and the local business community for emergencies. 

• Rural Showcase Campaign – a series of interviews with leaders and practitioners from Indigenous organizations and the agriculture, mental health, and resilience sectors. 

• Native Roots – Drought Tolerant Species & Flood Tolerant Species – guides to support climate-smart gardening, including municipal and residential use of native plant species for drought and flood mitigation. 

Throughout the project, the team identified implementation and integration of the results as crucial next steps for Resilient Rurals. They learned the importance of staff capacity and advise that for sustained momentum on climate adaptation, other communities should similarly consider funding a dedicated climate adaptation coordinator or project team. 

Benefits

While much of the climate adaptation work in Canada is completed by large cities with greater internal capacities, the impacts of a changing climate are seen across rural and urban landscapes alike. There are many individuals across rural Alberta who consider climate adaptation a pressing concern. Resilient Rurals champions this work, and through this project they have advanced initiatives that support small and rural municipalities with lower capacity, providing the tools to local climate champions to build local resilience in rural Alberta. 

The work of the Resilient Rurals team has helped set our community on the course of building resilience and will greatly support our staff in future planning. Bruderheim takes pride in knowing this initiative can serve as a model for other small and rural communities across Canada to emulate.

Karl Hauch, Mayor of Bruderheim