Land and Food Systems, Faculty of
DSpace
UBC Climate Resilient Gardens
University of British Columbia. Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research
University of British Columbia. University Neighbourhoods Association
University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning
Tahami, Hannah
Seow, Kat
Alirezae, Farbod
Henriksson, Liliana
Unsustainable human activities are intensifying the effects of global warming through the emission of greenhouse gasses (GHG). These GHG emissions have caused the global surface temperature to increase by 1.1°C between 2011-2020 compared to the temperature between 1850-1900 (IPCC, 2023). The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasizes with high confidence that human-caused climate change greatly influences extreme climate and weather across the globe. Extreme weather events cause losses and damage to nature and people, leading to consequences such as decreased food and water security (IPCC, 2023). With a growing global population placing increasing pressure on agricultural systems to maximize production, measures must be taken to reduce the risk imposed by extreme climate and weather. We need to prioritize mitigation and adaptation strategies (Fróna et.al., 2019; City of Vancouver, 2012; 2020). Localizing food production can help support community food security and literacy (Ziervogel & Ericksen, 2010). Consequently, the purpose of our research was to identify strategies to increase the climate resiliency of food systems and landscapes at the UBC Vancouver Campus. This was accomplished through a literature review, field research on the microclimates of four garden sites and group interviews with gardeners and garden managers. The previous iteration of this project identified climate-resilient food plants suitable for growth to support climate-ready food gardens at the UBC Vancouver campus (McLeod et al., 2023). We expanded on this project by addressing the knowledge gap regarding management strategies focused on the impacts of extreme weather events. Specifically, we addressed the events of heat domes, cold snaps, high winds and flooding. Our research expanded past food-plant production to include the broader ecosystem, microclimate, and community aspects. Our literature review focused on how extreme weather events affected food availability in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, with emphasis on the significance of food sovereignty. Gillett and colleagues (2022) define food sovereignty as a concept that stresses the importance of everyone having the right to healthy and locally suitable food that is produced in an environmentally friendly way. The review of policy documents and peer-reviewed sources revealed significant gaps in policy, in particular that UBC is lacking a specific strategy to address extreme weather events for campus food growing activities. It was suggested that bringing communities together and allowing them to be more involved in planning and managing local gardens, will help improve resilience to extreme weather and reduce food insecurity (Drolet, 2011). Sohail and Chen (2022) emphasize the importance of gathering detailed climate data to improve the current understanding of extreme weather to better overcome challenges presented by them. Using the principles of Community-Based Action Research (CBAR), our research and recommendations prioritized the inclusion of key stakeholders and community members in every stage of the research process focusing on identifying and bolstering the existing strengths within the community (Gullion & Tilton, 2020). We recommend that UBC Campus and Community Planning along with our clients, the UNA and Botanical garden, distribute our toolkit to campus food growers. We also propose the development of an in-person campus food garden networking opportunity through workshops to improve communication and share knowledge between campus food growers to increase community resilience to managing the impacts of extreme weather events. We recommend that future SEEDS delves deeper into prolonged microclimate assessments of more campus locations, looking into plant breeding to breed more climate-ready crops, and extending research regarding our campus food gardens and their future regarding managing more severe and often extreme weather events. A UBC Climate-Ready Toolkit (Appendix D) was developed based on findings from our research in addition to a publication of this report to the UBC SEEDS library. This UBC Climate Ready Toolkit contains an audit of four garden site microclimates and a framework on how to collect microclimate data, information on the potential impacts of extreme weather events on UBC gardens and a management plan to build local resilience to extreme weather events. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”
Cover photo credits: Liliana Henriksson2UBC Climate Resilient GardensLand AcknowledgementWe are deeply grateful to work, play and learn at the University of British Columbia Vancouver Campus,located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam),Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We raise our hands in thanks to the manypeople who have stewarded this land since time immemorial and acknowledge our shared positions as visitorson this land from diverse backgrounds.The field work, research and interviews presented in this project were conducted on these lands. The resultsfrom our project include suggestions and practices that were introduced to this land through the ongoingprocess of colonialism. It is important to acknowledge the historical and ongoing impacts of agriculture onIndigenous communities and foodways and its role as a tool of colonization. The land that UBCV occupies wasand continues to be significant to the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations and remains anintegral part of their food system. We hope that our project can support UBC SEEDS, the UBC Botanical Gardenand the University Neighborhood Association’s ongoing reconciliation efforts.1UBC Climate Resilient GardensPractitioners’ Summary2UBC Climate Resilient GardensExecutive SummaryUnsustainable human activities are intensifying the effects of global warming through the emission ofgreenhouse gasses (GHG). These GHG emissions have caused the global surface temperature to increase by1.1°C between 2011-2020 compared to the temperature between 1850-1900 (IPCC, 2023). The SixthAssessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasizes with high confidencethat human-caused climate change greatly influences extreme climate and weather across the globe. Extremeweather events cause losses and damage to nature and people, leading to consequences such as decreasedfood and water security (IPCC, 2023). With a growing global population placing increasing pressure onagricultural systems to maximize production, measures must be taken to reduce the risk imposed by extremeclimate and weather. We need to prioritize mitigation and adaptation strategies (Fróna et.al., 2019; City ofVancouver, 2012; 2020).Localizing food production can help support community food security and literacy (Ziervogel & Ericksen, 2010).Consequently, the purpose of our research was to identify strategies to increase the climate resiliency of foodsystems and landscapes at the UBC Vancouver Campus. This was accomplished through a literature review, fieldresearch on the microclimates of four garden sites and group interviews with gardeners and garden managers.The previous iteration of this project identified climate-resilient food plants suitable for growth to supportclimate-ready food gardens at the UBC Vancouver campus (McLeod et al., 2023). We expanded on this projectby addressing the knowledge gap regarding management strategies focused on the impacts of extremeweather events. Specifically, we addressed the events of heat domes, cold snaps, high winds and flooding. Ourresearch expanded past food-plant production to include the broader ecosystem, microclimate, andcommunity aspects.Our literature review focused on how extreme weather events affected food availability in Metro Vancouver,British Columbia, with emphasis on the significance of food sovereignty. Gillett and colleagues (2022) definefood sovereignty as a concept that stresses the importance of everyone having the right to healthy and locallysuitable food that is produced in an environmentally friendly way. The review of policy documents andpeer-reviewed sources revealed significant gaps in policy, in particular that UBC is lacking a specific strategy toaddress extreme weather events for campus food growing activities. It was suggested that bringingcommunities together and allowing them to be more involved in planning and managing local gardens, willhelp improve resilience to extreme weather and reduce food insecurity (Drolet, 2011). Sohail and Chen (2022)emphasize the importance of gathering detailed climate data to improve the current understanding of extremeweather to better overcome challenges presented by them.Using the principles of Community-Based Action Research (CBAR), our research and recommendationsprioritized the inclusion of key stakeholders and community members in every stage of the research processfocusing on identifying and bolstering the existing strengths within the community (Gullion & Tilton, 2020). Werecommend that UBC Campus and Community Planning along with our clients, the UNA and Botanical garden,distribute our toolkit to campus food growers. We also propose the development of an in-person campus foodgarden networking opportunity through workshops to improve communication and share knowledge betweencampus food growers to increase community resilience to managing the impacts of extreme weather events.We recommend that future SEEDS delves deeper into prolonged microclimate assessments of more campuslocations, looking into plant breeding to breed more climate-ready crops, and extending research regarding ourcampus food gardens and their future regarding managing more severe and often extreme weather events.A UBC Climate-Ready Toolkit (Appendix D) was developed based on findings from our research in addition to apublication of this report to the UBC SEEDS library. This UBC Climate Ready Toolkit contains an audit of fourgarden site microclimates and a framework on how to collect microclimate data, information on the potentialimpacts of extreme weather events on UBC gardens and a management plan to build local resilience toextreme weather events.3UBC Climate Resilient GardensTable of ContentsLand Acknowledgement.........................................................................................................................................1Practitioners’ Summary..........................................................................................................................................2Executive Summary................................................................................................................................................3Table of Contents................................................................................................................................................... 4List of Tables...........................................................................................................................................................5List of Figures......................................................................................................................................................... 5List of Abbreviations.............................................................................................................................................. 51. Introduction.............................................................................................................................................. 11.1 Research Topic........................................................................................................................................... 11.2 Research Relevance................................................................................................................................... 21.3 Project context...........................................................................................................................................31.4 Project Purpose, Goals & Objectives......................................................................................................... 52. Methodology and Methods....................................................................................................................... 52.1 Research Methodology..............................................................................................................................52.2 Research Methods.....................................................................................................................................62.2.1 Secondary Data Collection Research Methods:............................................................................... 72.2.2 Primary Data Collection Research Methods:....................................................................................72.3 Methods of Administration.................................................................................................................93. Results.......................................................................................................................................................93.1 Primary Data..............................................................................................................................................93.1.1 Garden Site Observations.................................................................................................................93.1.2 Field Data....................................................................................................................................... 103.1.3 Interview Findings..........................................................................................................................123.2 Secondary Data - Literature Review.........................................................................................................144. Discussion................................................................................................................................................154.2 Microclimate Assessments...................................................................................................................... 154.2 Interview Findings................................................................................................................................... 174.3 Literature Review.....................................................................................................................................184.5 Limitations............................................................................................................................................... 195. Recommendations...................................................................................................................................21Conclusion............................................................................................................................................................23References............................................................................................................................................................25Appendices..................................................................................................................................................28Appendix A: Additional Figures..................................................................................................................... 28Appendix B: Data Collection Tools................................................................................................................. 30Appendix C: Procedure.................................................................................................................................. 36Appendix D: Deliverable (Toolkit).................................................................................................................. 384UBC Climate Resilient GardensList of TablesTable 1. Qualitative observations from the four sampled garden sites at UBC, Vancouver sampled on 10March 14th, 2024 at 11:00 am.Table 2. Gardener reported experiences with extreme weather events at the surveyed garden sites 13Table 3.Resources and sources identified in interviews that could increase garden resilience 14to extreme weather events.List of FiguresFigure 1. Comparison of the average wind speed in km/hr recorded at each garden site. The average 11values are plotted with standard error (n=6). AG: Agronomy Garden, ROTR: Roots on the Roof,BG: UBC Botanical Garden, UNA: University Neighborhoods Association Greenway South garden.Figure 2. Comparison of average soil temperatures at each UBC garden site to Totem Field 12soil temperature data and average air temperature across all five sites. TF: Totem Field.Figure 3. 3(a) The average percent soil moisture at each UBC garden site. The average values 12are plotted with standard error (n=4). 3(b) The average soil pH at each UBC garden site. Theaverage values are plotted with standard error (n=4).Figure 4. Garden management practices identified in interviews currently used by gardeners. 13List of AbbreviationsAG - Agronomy GardenBC - British ColumbiaBG - UBC Botanical GardenCAP 2030 - Climate Action Plan 2030CBAR - Climate-Based Action ResearchGHG - Greenhouse gassesIPCC - Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeROTR - Roots on the RoofSEEDS - Social Ecological Economic Development StudiesSRI - Sustainable Region InitiativeTF - Totem FieldUBC - University of British ColumbiaUNA - University Neighborhoods Association garden5UBC Climate Resilient Gardens1. Introduction1.1 Research TopicHuman activity is the main driver of global climate change which is a direct cause of meeting demandsfrom the human population’s need for energy, food, infrastructure, services, and waste disposal areas(Owrangi et al., 2014). Climate change has increased vulnerability in many low-lying coastal, river deltamegacities, already stressed by rapid population growth and other economic, social, and health factors(Owrangi et. al., 2014). Metro Vancouver where UBC lies fits this description and has been impacted quiteseverely and randomly by extreme weather events (Gillet et al., 2022). The threat of rising sea levels (Arkemaet al., 2013) as well as more intense and less predictable extreme storm surges makes the coastal city of MetroVancouver more vulnerable to these adverse conditions (Owrangi et al., 2014). Additionally, the IPCC identifiesin their Sixth Assessment Report that climate change has reduced food security due to the greater frequencyand intensity of climate extreme events (IPCC, 2023). UBC's 2030 Climate Action Plan explicitly recognizes theunsustainable nature of UBC's food systems, highlighting the need to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions linkedto the campus food system (UBC Campus and Community Planning, 2021). Extreme weather events can havespecific effects on food systems ranging from direct impacts on crop production (e.g., changes in rainfallresulting in drought or flooding, and/or heat domes and cold spells resulting in changes in the length of thegrowing season) to food price and supply chain infrastructure changes (Rahman et al., 2022).Our research focuses on developing strategies to increase the climate resiliency of food systems andlandscapes from extreme weather events at the UBC Campus and the broader Vancouver region. The extremeweather events of interest are heat domes, cold spells, extreme winds, and flooding. Food sovereignty, whichencompasses prioritizing local agricultural production to feed people and allowing populations to take part inagricultural policy choices, is identified as an important consideration when developing agricultural land-useand management policies that are more resilient to the impacts of climate change (Grey & Patel, 2015; Taylor,2013; Morrison, 2011). This research will draw concepts of food sovereignty and food security when looking atthe roles of current and future local food gardens, as well as highlighting their importance in our campuscommunities, emphasizing the need to build resilience towards extreme weather events in a changing climate.1UBC Climate Resilient GardensThus, this paper aims to identify the most prominent issues from extreme weather events faced by campusgardens to determine their potential to grow into more resilient, adaptable, sovereign, and sustainable foodsystems that can withstand unpredictable extreme weather events.1.2 Research RelevanceWith a rapidly growing population and the uncertain threats from climate change, adapting ourcurrent agricultural systems to feed the global community is of utmost importance. In recent years, we haveseen increasing urbanization and development of arable lands as well as the degradation of agriculturallandscapes due to unsustainable agricultural practices (Eigenbrod & Gruda, 2015). It is estimated that by 2030,around 70% of the world’s population will live in cities which will increase demand for urban infrastructuredevelopment and sources of food within urban centres. It is also estimated that agricultural practices andovergrazing account for over 60% of global soil erosion and loss of arable land (Eigenbrod & Gruda, 2015).In addition to these challenges, instances of extreme weather events, amplified by the effects ofclimate change impact agricultural production, cause supply chain disruptions and decrease productivity(Barclays, 2023). Notably, the economic costs caused by extreme weather events such as unusualtemperatures, droughts, high precipitation and snow have increased nearly eight times globally since 1970(Barclays, 2023). There is increasing concern surrounding how to feed our growing global population in theface of unpredictable and volatile climate events (Fróna et al., 2019). Agricultural production is increasinglydistanced from local food systems which can contribute to food insecurity, with disproportionate impacts onpoorer communities or developing countries (Ziervogel & Ericksen, 2010). Ziervogel and Ericksen (2010)highlight that these impacts extend beyond agricultural output to affect food accessibility, utilization, andstability; they can damage infrastructure, limiting access to food, especially in rapidly urbanizing areas.In acknowledgement of the urgency to update current practices, leading institutions, like UBC, havetaken the initiative toward creating goals within their campus that increase sustainability practices that alignwith their policies related to campus planning, resource usage, and emergency response (UBC Campus &Community Planning, 2023). Specifically, action plans such as Climate Action Plan 2030, Zero Waste Action2UBC Climate Resilient GardensPlan, Neighborhood Action Plan, etc., have been created with the overall goal of significantly reducinggreenhouse gas emissions on campus and in our neighborhoods (UBC Campus & Community Planning, 2023).Additionally, Metro Vancouver has formally centralized the concept of sustainability towards the city’soperation and land-use planning philosophy known as the Sustainable Region Initiative (SRI) (Metro Vancouver,2023). Within this endeavour, their vision included focusing on food systems, ecological health, and climatechange (Metro Vancouver, 2023).Our project at the UBC Vancouver campus will aid campus community gardens in becoming moreclimate resilient in the face of challenges such as heat domes, cold snaps, flooding or high winds. By studyingthe microclimates of different garden sites and the effects of extreme weather on UBC's community gardens,our project will address some of UBC’s CAP 2030 targets, focus areas, and actions, specifically in the realm offood systems which is considered a main theme to be addressed in their report. CAP 2030 aims to achieve a50% GHG emission reduction of food systems, and our research can help advance research amd improvestrategies on resource management and community preparedness against climate challenges (UBCSustainability, 2023).Our research outcomes provide UBC’s gardens and food landscapes on the UBC Vancouver campus withimproved and refined solutions to cope with the impacts of extreme weather events. Moreover, our researchcan be beneficial to gardens across Vancouver that face similar challenges from extreme weather events andthat have similar microclimates. Our research will allow the campus community and beyond to gain insight intoimplementing effective methods of dealing with extreme weather events such as heat domes, cold snaps,floods, and extreme winds. It is anticipated that the long-term benefits from our research will be that campusgardens, which serve as the core local produce providers to many campus residents and campus foodinstitutions, will be better equipped to protect sustainable food spaces and continue to help reduce foodinsecurity and increase food sovereignty.3UBC Climate Resilient Gardens1.3 Project contextOur project took place at the UBC Vancouver campus in collaboration with student-led communitygardens, the UBC Botanical Garden, the University Neighborhood Association (UNA) gardens, and the UBCSEEDS team. The UNA is an organization which oversees the major residential neighbourhoods on UBCVancouver’s campus and is responsible for managing infrastructure, public concerns and resident access to UBCfacilities (University Neighborhoods Association, 2023). Furthermore, the UBC Botanical Garden was foundedwith the goal of research into native British Columbia (BC) flora, but has since expanded to include focuses oneducation, conservation, community outreach and public display of non-native plants (UBC Botanical Garden,2019). All of these gardens are situated on lands which have been stewarded by the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm(Musqueam) First Nation since time immemorial.UBC has fifteen campus garden landscapes (Obedkoff, 2020). Our research focused on Roots on theRoof, Agronomy Garden, UNA Greenway South, and Botanical Garden. The student-led Roots on the Roof andAgronomy Garden are both variable in their goals, production levels, locations and management. These gardensutilize a communal-plot garden model where individuals do not own certain plots and the community cares forthe garden as a collective (UBC Sustainability, n. d.). The food grown in these student gardens have beenimperative in assisting campus food security initiatives such as UBC Sprouts, Agora Café, and even the UBC foodbank (Obedkoff, 2020). Next, the UNA has five garden sites: Hawthorn Garden, Rhodo Garden, Nobel Garden,and the two Greenway Gardens. These five sites count for 230 plots cumulatively (University NeighborhoodsAssociation, 2023). UNA garden plots are managed using a rental system where individual residents areassigned a single plot for their care (University Neighborhoods Association, 2023). Finally, the UBC BotanicalGarden has a food garden where they grow an array of produce and harvest throughout June to October knownas the Healthy Harvest program (UBC Botanical Garden, 2019). This produce is delivered to food groups oncampus like the Alma Mater Society (AMS) Food Bank (UBC Botanical Garden, 2019). Hired gardeners andhorticulturalists, student work-learns, and volunteers take care of the botanical food garden (UBC BotanicalGarden, 2019).4UBC Climate Resilient GardensIn recent years, the UBC Vancouver community has endured the recurring impacts of unpredictableextreme weather events, including heat domes, cold snaps, flooding, and extreme wind, causing disruptions toclass and work schedules, the health and well-being of local people, and physical damages (Government ofCanada, 2022; Ruttle, 2024). These weather events are unusual for our region, making navigating the negativeimpacts of these events difficult due to under-preparedness or lack of resource access. However, it is alsovaluable to consider that while unusual, at the same time extreme weather events in the region are becomingmore frequent and more normalized.In 2023, a project was conducted on investigating and developing strategies that ensure campusgardens can become more "climate-ready". Specifically, they aimed to determine climate-resilient food plantssuitable for growth at the UBC Vancouver campus and generated a climate-ready food garden managementplan and a research report on supporting climate-ready food gardens (McLeod et al., 2023). The project focusedon navigating food production challenges regarding crop yield and growth in a changing climate whilepromoting community resilience (McLeod et al., 2023). We identified that the previous project lackedrecommendations for management strategies in extreme weather events, thus our project explores thisknowledge gap and will further build up this work. This focus was decided on with the clients and SEEDS team,both of whom were heavily consulted during our research timeline. Through our secondary research andprimary data collection, we identified challenges faced by UBC growers related to extreme weather events, andexpanded beyond food-plant production to the broader ecosystem, microclimate and community.1.4 Project Purpose, Goals & ObjectivesThe purpose of our project was to develop strategies that can increase the climate resiliency of foodsystems and landscapes at the UBC Campus and the broader Vancouver region. Our three primary goals were toenrich our understanding of how to build resilience to extreme weather events through increased knowledge ofmicroclimates and growing practices at the UBC Vancouver campus, to develop community-based resourcesand practical tools for use by gardeners to increase the climate resiliency of garden sites during extremeweather events, and to enhance the collaboration and communication between different garden sites to foster5UBC Climate Resilient Gardenscommunity resilience and effective resource sharing. To address our research goals successfully, we created thefollowing four objectives:(1) Conduct a literature review of the primary extreme weather events (flood, cold spell, heat dome,and extreme winds) at the UBC Vancouver Campus;(2) Collect field data on microclimate conditions at UBC Vancouver Campus gardens to study theland, water, soil, and climate management and provide recommendations to increase resilienceto extreme weather events;(3) Gain insight into challenges faced by extreme weather events from campus food growers andgarden owners through a focus group; and(4) Triangulate data and research to create a guide to support gardeners in increasing preparednessand resilience in the case of extreme weather events and in turn, strengthen the communicationnetwork between campus-wide gardens and food security initiatives.2. Methodology and Methods2.1 Research MethodologyThe research performed in this project was informed by and adhered to the Tri-Council PolicyStatement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (Panel on Research Ethics, 2022), and a signedconsent form was acquired from each interview participant (Appendix B.1). The research methodology used inthis study is the Community-Based Action Research (CBAR). CBAR refers to collaborative research on a specificproblem or issue that is grounded within a geographically bounded community to develop interventions andassess outcomes (Gullion & Tilton, 2020). This type of research prioritizes including key stakeholders andcommunity members in every stage of the research process (Pain et al, 2019). We applied this approach bydirectly collaborating with affected community members by extreme weather events and centering ourresearch and work around their concerns expressed through our interviews. The methodology aims toencourage active participation from all stakeholders throughout the research process. This way, practicalcommunity concerns can be addressed through the process of conducting experiments and analyzing data to6UBC Climate Resilient Gardensobtain knowledge, as well as reflecting on one's own experiences and actions. CBAR likewise facilitates the useof local knowledge and practices in the development of effective, context-specific adaptation and mitigationstrategies for urban agriculture under climate challenges. While conducting our research, we practiced CBARmethods by prioritizing interactions with and feedback from food growers and garden managers at the UBCVancouver campus gardens. We aim to amplify their voices and concerns through our project and highlight theareas in which the community’s strengths can be utilized to their fullest. Through our research, we hope tocombine empirical data collection with community feedback and shared knowledge to co-create solutions thatwill improve resilience and sustainability in urban garden settings.2.2 Research MethodsResearch was conducted through various methods of primary and secondary data collections. Primarydata was gathered through group interviews and field data collection. Secondary data was collected throughliterature reviews and historical microclimate data from Totem Field.Our secondary data from literature reviews focused on climate and weather challenges within MetroVancouver, gaps in policy related to food systems and local food production, and promising areas where policycan be created and implemented using the CBAR method to emphasize the strengths of active communitymembers and centers Indigenous voices. The historical microclimate data from the Totem Field at UBC wasused as a comparison for our microclimate data and to identify trends in microclimate changes. This data iscrucial to understanding the ecosystem behaviour and health in these gardens and how they’ve changed overtime which is key when looking into increasing climate resilience.For primary data collection, the group interviews aimed to gather information on how extremeweather events have affected UBC campus gardens, to learn about management strategies currently beingused to mitigate their negative impacts, and to gain feedback on what resources gardeners need goingforward. Next, the field data collected helped us understand how the four gardens' microclimates varied andhow the effects of extreme weather events might be impacting them in a quantitative way. We used this dataand analyzed it with our control data from Totem Field. This data is important to the garden environmentwhen it comes to sustainability management and resilience to climate change and extreme weather events.7UBC Climate Resilient Gardens2.2.1 Secondary Data Collection Research Methods:Our secondary data includes microclimate data to cross-reference as needed from the Totem Field onUBC Campus which was retrieved from the Totem Field Micrometeorology Group’s ongoing project data set.This data has been measuring meteorological observations including air temperature, humidity, precipitation,soil temperatures, solar irradiance, and wind since 1957 (Department of Geography, UBC, 2024). Secondarydata was also sourced through review of literature and policy on climate change, urban gardening, andadaptation to extreme weather events in Canada and British Columbia. Our literature review began with largercontext on climate change, extreme weather events and the role of community gardens in local food systems.Information was sourced from scholarly journal publications and government publications using the UBClibrary and Google Scholar databases. The research approach involved a search on the UBC Library and GoogleScholar using keywords such as "flooding," "climate change," "agricultural practices," "food sovereignty," and"Indigenous knowledge" to find relevant academic journals and government policy reports.This review helped establish a theoretical framework for the study, identify gaps in current research,and understand the broader policy environment that is impacting urban gardens. Further, a special attentionwas given to local environmental policies and historical climate challenges and promising practices grown fromthese challenges in Vancouver to strongly match the project within the regulatory landscape.2.2.2 Primary Data Collection Research Methods:Microclimate SurveysField data was collected at 11:00 am on six different days across two weeks (March 13th, 2024 - March26th, 2024). Soil samples were collected the first four of the six days. Data was collected from four gardensites: the Agronomy Garden (AG), Roots on the Roof (ROTR), the UBC Botanical Garden (BG), and the UNAGreenway South garden (UNA). Data collected from these gardens included soil and air temperature, alongwith wind speed. Each group member was assigned one garden site and collected all data from that site.Before conducting microclimate surveys, qualitative data was collected on the gardens’ topography,canopy cover, garden bed type and surrounding environment. Soil samples were collected at 10 cm of depth,and stored in sealed plastic bags that were kept in a dark and cool room until they were analyzed for moisture8UBC Climate Resilient Gardensand pH in the lab (Appendix C.1; C.2). Samples were taken at each garden site from different areas of the samegarden bed. Soil temperature was collected using thermometers which were fully inserted into the soil and leftuntil the temperature remained consistent. Air temperatures and wind speeds were collected by imputing thecoordinates of our current location on our Iphones to track air temperature and wind speed.InterviewsThe sample group of participants selected for these interviews included managers and long-termvolunteers from the four garden sites used for microclimate assessments. These participants were selecteddue to their high level of experience and knowledge of these garden sites to ensure that the data points thatwe collected were relevant and significant insights from the community gardeners around campus. Weinterviewed 5 gardeners across three interview sessions. Our interview data collection was guided usingscripted questions on the gardeners’ experience with extreme weather events, garden management strategiesand required resources. Questions created were open-ended yet directed and provided an opportunity forparticipants to share their personal insights to the discussion (Appendix B.3). The interview script wasdeveloped to guide discussions and ensure consistency across sessions. All interview data was recorded viatyped notes (Appendix B.4).This mixed-methods approach was chosen to facilitate the integration of objective microclimate datawith subjective experiential insights from managers and gardeners. This way, the understanding of howenvironmental conditions and community responses interact can be much improved. All research activitieswere conducted following ethical guidelines of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for ResearchInvolving Humans, with approval obtained from the garden managers (Panel on Research Ethics, 2022).Participants provided informed consent to ensure that they were fully aware of the study's scope and theirrights within it.9UBC Climate Resilient Gardens2.3 Methods of AdministrationInterviewsInterviews were conducted in March. The interviews were scheduled at convenient times forparticipants over Zoom for better accessibility. We hosted three group interviews with five total gardeners andgarden managers from the four surveyed garden sites. The selection aimed to represent diverse experienceswith varying garden microclimates and management practices. The managers from Agronomy Garden andRoots on the Roof were interviewed together, one manager and one participant from UNA Gardens wereinterviewed together and one manager from the UBC Botanical Garden was interviewed separately. Whileguided by a script, we asked follow-up questions depending on gardener responses where we felt we neededmore explanation or information. We also endeavoured to create a space where the participants felt safe tospeak freely on any topic without judgement. The interviews were conducted over Zoom and lastedapproximately an hour. We asked questions that fell into three broad categories: (1) Context on what extremeweather events were relevant to each garden site, (2) Current management practices and (3) What resourcesgardeners need to improve their gardens’ climate resiliency (Appendix B.3). Interview data was analyzed bygrouping similar data from the aforementioned categories into more easily understandable figures.3. Results3.1 Primary Data3.1.1 Garden Site ObservationsThrough our garden site observations, we identified four key categories of information to gather onthe garden sites. These categories are as follows: (1) Topography, (2) Canopy cover, (3) Garden bed style and (4)Surrounding environment (Table 1). These categories were chosen as they have strong implications on themicroclimate of the garden and influence factors such as water drainage, shade coverage and wind protection.The qualitative observations revealed nuanced, but also distinct characteristics. Similar trends can be observedamongst the four gardens regarding topography and garden bed style (Table 1). They are all on relatively flat toflat landscapes with a raised bed gardening style, with the exception of the Botanical garden that also usesground beds. In contrast, UNA Greenway South has distinctly higher canopy coverage at 45% compared to the10UBC Climate Resilient Gardensother three gardens. The surrounding environment was quite consistent amongst all but Roots on the Roofthat was notably unique in its location on a concrete roof with few surrounding juvenile trees.Table 1. Qualitative observations from the four sampled garden sites at UBC, Vancouver sampled on March14th, 2024 at 11:00 am.Garden Topography Canopy cover(%)Garden bedstyleSurroundingenvironmentAgronomy Garden Relatively flat 5% Raised beds Large trees, buildings,shrubbery, road,sidewalkRoots on the Roof Flat 2% Raised beds Concrete roof, somejuvenile treesBotanical Garden Relatively flat, in adip0% Raised beds,ground bedsLarge trees and builtstructures, walkingpathsUNA GreenwaySouthRelatively flat 45% Raised beds Large trees, buildings,road3.1.2 Field DataThrough our microclimate assessments, we collected six data points per garden site on air and soiltemperature, wind speed, and four data points per garden site on soil moisture and soil pH. Data analysis onwind speed revealed that Roots on the Roof garden experienced the highest average wind speeds of 9.57km/hr while the other gardens averaged around 7.5 km/hr (Fig. 1). Furthermore, comparison of average airtemperature to soil temperature suggests that air temperature strongly influences soil temperature (Fig. 2).The soil temperatures that we sampled are presented in comparison to soil temperatures at UBC’s Totem Fieldwhich were collected by the Totem Field Micrometeorology Group. Lab analysis of the four soil samples pergarden revealed that the Botanical Garden had the highest average soil moisture at 77.85%, and the Agronomygarden had the lowest at 39.94% (Fig. 3a). In terms of pH (Fig.3b), it ranged from acidic to more neutral acrossthe garden sites with Agronomy having the most acidic soil at a pH of 5.6 and the Botanical and UNA gardenshaving almost neutral soil at a pH of 6.9.11UBC Climate Resilient GardensFigure 1. Comparison of the average wind speed in km/hr recorded at each garden site. The average values areplotted with standard error (n=6). AG: Agronomy Garden, ROTR: Roots on the Roof, BG: UBC Botanical Garden,UNA: University Neighborhoods Association Greenway South garden.Figure 2. Comparison of average soil temperatures at each UBC garden site to Totem Field soil temperaturedata and average air temperature across all five sites. TF: Totem Field.12UBC Climate Resilient GardensFigure 3. 3(a) The average percent soil moisture at each UBC garden site. The average values are plotted withstandard error (n=4). 3(b) The average soil pH at each UBC garden site. The average values are plotted withstandard error (n=4).3.1.3 Interview FindingsGardener ConcernsIn our analysis of interview data, we found that all gardens experienced heat domes, three out of fourgardens experienced cold snaps, one out of four gardens experienced high winds and no gardens experiencedflooding (Table 2). The most frequent and pressing concerns expressed during the later spring and summerwere about the impacts of heat domes. Frequently discussed challenges within the heat domes category weresoil moisture retention, sun damage to plants, lack of access to automated irrigation and subsequent potentialharm to gardeners in extreme heat. Under the category of cold snaps, shifting seasonality was a prominentconcern, especially for gardens lacking access to an indoor growing space.Table 2. Gardener reported experiences with extreme weather events at the surveyed garden sites over thelast yearGarden Extreme Weather EventHeat domes Cold snaps High winds FloodingAgronomy Garden ✓ ✓Roots on the Roof ✓ ✓ ✓Botanical Garden ✓ ✓UNA Greenway South ✓13UBC Climate Resilient GardensCurrent Garden Management PracticesThrough our interviews, the participants identified many different management practices beingutilized across the gardens which we have grouped into 3 distinct categories (Fig. 4) based on our data analysis.The categories are as follows: (1) Physical weather protection, (2) Crop selection and (3) Knowledge acquisitionand transfer. Knowledge acquisition and transfer refers to the process of gardeners increasing their knowledgeon how to manage their garden well through either experience or learning via an outside source. This includedknowledge transfer and acquisition on the topics of crop selection and physical weather protection.Figure 4. Garden management practices identified in interviews currently used by gardeners.Gardener NeedsThe participants identified two primary sources that gardeners requested aid from: (1) The gardeningcommunity and (2) The university (Table 3). Gardeners overall expressed a lack of support from or aconnection to the gardening community and the student-run gardens, Roots on the Roof and AgronomyGarden expressed lacking support from the university. Gardeners universally expressed interest in sharing theirown resources and knowledge with other gardens but felt that they lacked the ability to do so.14UBC Climate Resilient GardensTable 3. Resources and sources identified in interviews that could increase garden resilience to extremeweather events.Source ResourceGardening Community ➔ Enhanced community connection➔ Seed/plant sharing➔ Documentation on how to start and run a garden➔ Sharing tools or equipment➔ Knowledge sharing◆ Plant knowledge◆ Management recommendations◆ Sourcing grants/funding◆ Sourcing physical resources◆ Workshops◆ Online information sourcesUniversity ➔ Funding to purchase resources to build resiliency➔ Paid/credited position for garden managers➔ Facilitation of campus garden connection➔ Indoor growing space access➔ Advertisement of these garden spaces3.2 Secondary Data - Literature ReviewThe literature reviews, which serve as a secondary source for this research, focus primarily on thechallenges related to climate resilience and food systems in Canada and British Columbia, specifically in MetroVancouver. The objective of our review was to identify current challenges, policy gaps, and promising practicesin regards to current food systems and building extreme weather resilience.The main challenges relevant to our research were (1) that Metro Vancouver has a complex climatewhich makes it challenging to increase resiliency and decrease vulnerability (Owrangi et. al., 2014; Gillett et al.,2022), and (2) extreme weather can cause physical damage to crops and farm infrastructure, and supply chaindisruptions (Barclays, 2023). Furthermore, in terms of policy, key gaps were observed between policy creationand effective implementation (Owrangi et. al., 2014). Despite valuable policy creation towards supporting foodlandscapes, the notable disparity regarding the implementation of them suggested a systemic issue withingovernment frameworks. There is also a significant gap present on local food production policies. Despite alarge focus on large-scale food production, there is very little focus placed on small-scale production and itsbenefits towards local scale food security (Drolet, 2011). Large-scale can theoretically feed more people, but15UBC Climate Resilient Gardensthe reviews questioned - at what cost? In addition, while Canada and Vancouver both have food plans thatoutline challenges to food systems such as the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Food Policy Report (2019)and Vancouver’s Local Food Systems Action Plan (2021), UBC is lacking a specific plan target towards foodpolicy. Finally, the key promising practice highlighted was that policy can be created and implemented using acommunity-based action research (CBAR) method which emphasizes the strengths of active communitymembers and centers for Indigenous voices (Dell, 2009; Drolet, 2011; Taylor, 2013). This can help create moreintentional and effective approaches to local food system challenges such as extreme weather events.4. DiscussionResults from our data collection provided insight into the role of community gardens in local foodsystems alongside the potential and historical impacts that extreme weather events have on them. Keyfindings from our collected data indicate that, in order to increase campus community garden resilience toextreme weather events, it is essential to increase knowledge on extreme weather events and climate change,create strong community connections between garden sites and have support from larger institutions such asUBC.4.2 Microclimate AssessmentsThe results from our primary data collection through field work and interviews provided valuableinsights into the microclimate and management practice of the four UBC gardens sites studied. It offered athorough understanding of how various environmental factors influence gardening practices, highlighting thechallenges faced by these community gardeners in managing their plots effectively. The initial qualitativegarden site observations made before collecting microclimate data revealed similar, but also distinct variationsin topography, canopy cover, garden bed style, and surrounding environment amongst the 4 sites (Table 1).These factors play important roles in shaping the microclimate of each garden by influencing variables such assoil temperature, soil water content, shade coverage, wind protection, and water draining (Luo and Zhou,2006; Lin et. al., 2018). For example, canopy coverage was mostly similar across sites (~5%) with the exception16UBC Climate Resilient Gardensof UNA Greenway South with significantly higher coverage (~45%) which may affect light availability for plantsand overall moisture retention (Table 1) (Dormann et al., 2020). The environments surrounding the gardenswere quite similar between sites, with ROTR as the exception as it is located on a concrete roof with minimalsurrounding trees (Fig. 1).Soil is a largely non-renewable resource and a key component in food growth (Blum, 2005). Themicroclimate data results on soil moisture and pH are key indicators of soil health and can aid in identifyingsustainable management practices to maintain soil health. There were some variations in soil moisturebetween garden sites, indicating a need for tailored management strategies to optimize growing conditionsand increase or decrease moisture as needed. For example, the Botanical Garden had significantly higher soilmoisture than the other sites (Fig. 3a). Increased moisture is associated with reduced oxygen and nitrogendiffusion in the soil (Borowik and Wyszkowska, 2016) which can negatively impact plant health and make cropsmore prone to the effects of extreme weather. Conversely, lower soil moisture, as observed in the AgronomyGarden, Roots on the Roof and Greenway South results can increase the effects of droughts from the heatdomes resulting in reduced growth rates, increased stress on vegetation, and alterations or transformations tothe entire ecosystem (Borowik and Wyszkowska, 2016). Soil samples from each garden site fell within orslightly above this range which indicates that pH is not a likely concern for gardeners at these sites. Theoptimal soil pH range for plant health, growth and microbial activity is 5.5 to 6.5 (Brady and Weil, 2002). SoilpH levels can indicate soil fertility and nutrient availability, enabling them to make informed decisions aboutsoil amendments and fertilization (Brady and Weil, 2002).Soil temperature is fundamental for plant growth, health, and productivity. Although our microclimateassessment data only covered two weeks of soil temperature, it was still relevant as it revealed key findings.Our data indicates that the soil and air temperature are strongly positively correlated (Fig. 2), which highlightsthe importance of soil thermal dynamics in gardening practices. We found that the four garden sites had verysimilar soil temperatures to Totem Field data (Fig. 2). This means that the Totem Field data can be an extremelyvaluable resource to gardeners at the UBC campus as it is automatically collected every day throughout theday and can be used as a proxy measurement for garden soil temperatures. This would enable gardeners to17UBC Climate Resilient Gardensmake informed decisions about planting, water management, and climate change adaptation (Blum, 2005).Many plants have temperature requirements for periods in their growth cycle such as germination, growth,flowering, and fruiting. Extreme weather events such as cold snaps can make it difficult for gardeners topredict when the last frost will be and can significantly shorten the growing season (Interview - AgronomyGarden gardener, 2024). Thus, our microclimate assessment on soil and air temperature revealed the necessityfor gardeners to take advantage of the availability of this data through the Totem Field Meteorology Group anduse it when timing seed planting and seed selection.The results from our wind speed assessments revealed that ROTR experiences significantly higher windspeeds than the other three gardens (Fig. 1) which is supported by our qualitative observations that the site islocated on the roof where it has little protection from wind by buildings or large trees. This puts the gardencrops at a higher risk of the winds shredding their leaves, tearing off flowers, breaking of branches, and theuprooting of shrubs and trees, which leaves the plants more susceptible to further damages from insects anddisease (University of California, 2024).4.2 Interview FindingsOur interviews with gardeners and garden managers from each site enabled us to get first handinformation on the impacts of extreme weather events on their respective gardens, their managementstrategies and what resources would benefit gardeners. From the interviews, it was identified that heat domesare the primary concern among gardeners because they strongly affect soil moisture retention, plant health,and gardener well-being. Cold snaps also posed challenges, particularly for gardens lacking indoor growingspaces, emphasizing the importance of adaptive strategies and availability of resources in response to shiftingseasonality.Current garden management practices highlighted from interviews encompassed a range of strategies,including physical weather protection, crop selection, and knowledge acquisition. The management strategiesutilized at each garden site were highly dependent on the resources available to each garden. For example, theBotanical Garden uses drip irrigation which is costly and requires private water access to implement. Thismethod is not available to the Agronomy Garden due to cost and water access limitations. Gardeners18UBC Climate Resilient Gardensprioritized acquiring knowledge on crop selection and weather protection techniques, highlighting the role ofcontinuous learning and knowledge exchange in optimizing garden productivity and resilience. It was reportedthat gardeners primarily gained knowledge through experience or from in-person interactions with othergardeners.Gardeners identified that the resources which may help them in increasing their garden’s climateresiliency can be primarily sourced from either community support or institutional assistance. The types ofresources that gardeners desired from the community were ones that they expressed willingness to sharethemselves. These resources included place-based knowledge, resources and labor. Resources requested fromthe institution were often things that gardeners were lacking and unable to share themselves, such as fundingor indoor growing space access. Gardeners expressed a strong desire for enhanced community connectionsand knowledge sharing platforms which could be facilitated by the university. Gardeners also expressed howdifficult it is to build and maintain community between gardens because garden managers often have moreimportant garden tasks to prioritize and do not have extra time or resources to develop community. Inaddition, many garden managers and volunteers are students who plan to leave the gardens post-graduationwhich breaks the continuity in community and contacts.While the microclimate assessments were helpful for gaining information on the garden environment,most gardeners relied on environmental information that they have personally gathered over multiple growingseasons through experiential trial and error to inform their management strategies. This highlights theimportance of sharing place-based knowledge within garden communities. Microclimate assessments may beprimarily helpful in adding to or corroborating experienced gardeners’ findings and informing newer gardenerswho don’t have multiple seasons of experience at a particular garden site.4.3 Literature ReviewThe results from our secondary data stress the importance of local food systems as a sustainable,community-oriented practice that can reduce both food insecurity and GHG emissions (IPCC, 2023). Local foodproduction reduces the economic costs and GHG emissions released from the transportation of food. Theexisting state of climate change, inducing extreme weather events, has heavily impacted areas like Metro19UBC Climate Resilient GardensVancouver. The first key challenge identified by literature is that Metro Vancouver has a complex climate,making it challenging to increase resilience and decrease vulnerability (Owrangi et al., 2014; Gillett et al.,2022). Practices to increase resilience should be targeted very specifically to local gardens. The use oftechniques such as direct drilling, cover crops, and soil mulches is very successful in protecting crops againstextreme weather but is very dependent on soil type and must be tailored accordingly, which proves theimportance of our conducted microclimate assessments in determining which management strategy toimplement that will be the most effective (O’Connell et al., 2007). Furthermore, another advantage ourliterature review confirmed with respect to microclimate assessments is, for example, knowing its percentcanopy coverage, which can help with measures like increased tree planting to provide shade to protect cropsfrom extreme heat and strong winds, as well as reducing potential flood peaks due to the drainage abilities oftrees (Dell 2009; O’Connell et al., 2007).Furthermore, our reviews heavily discussed and emphasized the importance of integrating Indigenousperspectives and prioritizing food sovereignty are essential strategies for developing resilient food systems.This is extremely important when looking at decolonizing the land and straying away from colonial approachesof managing our land as their practices and policies as discussed have not necessarily aided in climate changeand thereby extreme weather, yet instead exacerbated the effects. A common and powerful tool of oppressionused by colonial systems is the removal of control over food systems from a community, followed by charitableresponses to problems such as food insecurity. This model is reproduced today in subtle ways such as theenforcement of Western ideas of nutrition, the exclusion of minority groups from decision making spaces andthe privatization of land which may have once been a source of food (Dennis & Robin, 2020). In “Our hands atwork: Indigenous food sovereignty in Western Canada” (2019), author Tabitha Robin discusses the ongoingimpacts of colonialism on Indigenous food security and sovereignty. The violent displacement of Indigenouspeoples across Canada physically separated many people from their traditional food systems and forcedreliance upon Western food systems. For many Indigenous people, food sovereignty involves reclaimingtraditional ways of life which are inextricably tied to the land. Thus, the opportunity to be on the land in placessuch as community gardens can be essential for food sovereignty for urban Indigenous populations. While20UBC Climate Resilient Gardensgardening in the Western/colonial methods such as heavy tillage and gardening for productivity and rewardare not necessarily traditional for many Indigenous cultures, gardening can facilitate the practice of cultivatingfood and sharing knowledge in a community setting. This further stresses the importance of building resilienceto extreme weather and developing community-driven solutions that not only address immediate needsduring extreme weather events but also build long-term sustainability into our food systems. CenteringIndigenous knowledge and science is essential for this and will be crucial in our mindset towards foodproduction and deconstruct the structural inequalities especially between the producers and consumers, andmarginalized groups - these factors underlie and create barriers to accessing food. By implementing practicesidentified in the literature reviews, such as community gardening and inclusive policy-making, we can improvelocal food security and resilience. This approach will ensure that our project utilizes community strengths inorder to promote garden climate resiliency and food security.4.4 Unexpected FindingsSome key unexpected findings came from the results of our interviews. Notably, not one gardenmentioned flooding as an extreme weather concern, which was surprising given that past research emphasizedVancouver areas being at major flood risk largely by extreme rainfall and storm surges (Owrangi et. al., 2014;Gillett et al., 2022). Another unexpected result were cold snaps being of little concern. In the past couple ofyears, UBC campus and the Vancouver area has experienced prolonged cold snaps to temperatures of around -20°C which is unusual for the area, thus we were expecting more reaction from the interviews regarding theissues from these extreme cold weather. Instead, many gardeners only planted to cover crops during thewinter growing season and thus the damages incurred from cold snaps were not too costly to their gardens.4.5 LimitationsKey research limitations include the amount of time we had to collect microclimate data. Due to ourproject timeline and limited number of months to complete the research, we could only conduct themicroclimate assessments for two weeks which is not enough data for significant long-term results. Thismicroclimate data is also limited by being collected for one season of the year, thus limiting the scalability of21UBC Climate Resilient Gardensthe results to other seasons. Additionally, our scope of the UBC campus food gardens was limited as we onlyvisited and interviewed food growers from four of the fifteen campus community gardens (UBC, 2020) andcollecting for field data and interviews from more gardens could have provided us with more significantfindings that are representative of more food growing spaces. Finally, although brief mentions towards foodsecurity is given throughout the report, given the project’s capacity, we were not able to take it a step furtherand delve into more research into food security initiatives on campus and how the presence of thesecommunity gardens are and can play bigger roles into decreasing food insecurity on UBC campus.5. RecommendationsFuture ResearchFuture Research Recommendations to continue to expand our knowledge and to help gardeners create moreclimate resilient gardens that can better withstand extreme weather events.1) Mapping Climate Resilient Gardens to Better Withstand Extreme Weather Events (Within 1-2 years)We recommend the next group of students to work together with the clients of these gardens to helpmap out and plan the ideal garden that will be best protected throughout extreme weather events. This wouldentail students going to map and survey the different community gardens around campus. They would mapout the area by looking at topography, how much shade the garden gets, how the beds are built, and howmuch protection and shade there is from various elements. They should use the data we collected this term aswell as the years before to aid them in this process. This could be by adding more shrubbery or trees, or havingmore protection over the garden beds from wind, sun, or cold snaps. This research would take more than onesemester but with the work of the group before us and our the work we have done, the next group could beginthis research to plan community gardens that can strongly survive through extreme weather events.2) Collection of Long-Term Microclimate Data in Community Gardens (Ongoing)Our recommendation is to continue on the microclimate research we have been doing, but collectmore long-term data throughout the whole year. Although LFS 450 was one semester long, we believe if it22UBC Climate Resilient Gardenswere offered as a two-semester course or if we were able to get gardeners to collaborate with UBC and theSEEDS organization to collect data year round both the research and data collected would be more significant.On top of this it would help strengthen the data and findings collected in secondary research if we haveconsistent year-round data.3) Testing Various Plant Species that can Thrive in Different Microclimate Conditions (Ongoing)We recommend that the next group of students study various plant species and test whether they canthrive in our local microclimate conditions surrounding UBC. The students would use the data we havecollected along with the information from the project the year prior to help create this list of plants that cansurvive throughout the various extreme conditions. They would be able to work with SEEDS and the othercommunity gardens to delve into the science of plant breeding and how breeding different seeds together cancreate different strains that are more climate resilient and can adapt to the ever changing climate around us.More research needs to be done into plant breeding as it could be the future for many community gardensaround us as it could be the key to having a variety of plants that can truly thrive in these extreme weatherevents.Future ActionShort Term Recommendations (to be implemented within the next year)1) Facilitating Garden to Garden Connection Through In-Person WorkshopsOur research strongly encourages the forming of in-person networks among gardeners to exchangeknowledge and resources as it is essential to building resilience to extreme weather events. Our interviewshighlighted that there is an existing resource containing all the community gardens and their contactinformation, yet there was a large wish amongst gardeners to be introduced in-person to facilitate theconnections. We identified the Botanical Garden as a potential garden to host workshops to strengthen andfacilitate these connections. The BG would be a good location due to its size, resource capacity, and morecentral location to the other gardens that could host workshops to strengthen and facilitate these connections.These workshops would be accessible to all campus gardeners and would serve as a start of a larger branch of23UBC Climate Resilient Gardensnetworking that can occur within certain groups of community gardens (i.e. student-led, UNA). Theeffectiveness of this recommendation can be measured by sending out a survey regarding the workshops andthe face-to-face interaction helps and gather feedback to improve on based on their experience.2) Distribution of Toolkit to Support Food Growers in Building Garden Resilience to Extreme Weather EventsWe recommend and hope that our clients (UNA and BG) will take the toolkit that we created and shareit with the other gardens and gardeners in this area to help share the research we did to increase climateresiliency in surrounding food systems. This toolkit in the form of a pamphlet could help these campus foodgrowers to gain more insight into building resilience and managing the impacts of extreme weather events in avery accessible way. Our aim of creating a pamphlet was so that we could breakdown knowledge barriers andfears that may exist when trying to manage the impacts of extreme weather in a visually drawing, lessintimidating and easy to carry method.Long Term Recommendations (now-2050)To be able to adequately support on-campus food gardens with their needs in building resilience toextreme weather, we recommend that campus planners and food growers continue conducting microclimateassessments periodically throughout the year to gain more specific insight into which parts of their gardenneed more attention such as soil is lacking moisture making the garden more prone to the effects of droughts,or increase wind speeds but not enough protective cattle ranch panels or canopy to shield the crops. Toencourage collecting and using microclimate data, we have listed out in the toolkit how to collect preliminarylevel microclimate data. As time goes on, we hope to see intentional changes and improvements made to thefood landscapes that make them more resilient and less vulnerable to extreme weather events.ConclusionThe severity and occurrence of extreme weather events will persist given the direction of our worldand its battles with anthropogenic climate change. Through our microclimate assessments, interviews withfood growers, historical Totem Field data, and insight into challenges, policies, and promising practices from24UBC Climate Resilient Gardensliterature reviews, we have enriched our understanding of how to build resilience to extreme weather events.We have also developed community-based resources and practical tools distributed by SEEDS and the gardensthemselves for use by gardeners to increase the climate resiliency of garden sites during extreme weatherevents, and proposed ways to enhance the collaboration and communication between different garden sites tofoster community resilience and effective resource sharing. These campus gardens are aware and experiencingthe impacts from extreme weather, especially heat domes, yet at their current states, not all gardens areprepared to withstand future impacts with a dichotomy existing between the available resources from studentand non-student led gardens. However, our research demonstrates that referring to microclimate data,building and increasing community and ecological resilience, improving policies, and Indigenous knowledgeand values are key amongst all climate-ready food gardens.The findings of our study indicate that community gardens, food growers across campus, and SEEDScan help gardeners mitigate impacts of extreme weather by 1) sharing our garden management toolkit tomitigating and responding to the impacts of extreme weather events, and 2) collaborate with one another tobuild a network to share knowledge and create climate resilience through workshops and meetings. Somelimitations faced during our research occurred due to not being able to collect the most significant data as weonly had two weeks to collect microclimate data. Another limitation faced was only being able to survey fourout of the fifteen gardens across campus. If we were able to survey more sites and collect data for a longerperiod of time our findings would be more significant. That being said, we believe that the data collected andresults from our findings help provide this like-minded community the building blocks for more research tobuild on in the future. In addition, we believe these results may help to create more climate resilience amongmore than just local garden communities, but to the wider community of Vancouver. Overall, our projectdemonstrates the importance and need for community resilience, institutional support when it comes topolicy, more microclimate data, and knowledge sharing between one another to create a resilient andpromising foodscape in and around UBC that can withstand the impact of climate change which correlates tothe increase of extreme weather events.25UBC Climate Resilient GardensReferencesBarclays. (2023, March 2). 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J., Latta, A., Spring, A., Temmer, J., Johnston, C., Chicot, L., . . . Leishman, M. (2022). Agroecology inthe north: Centering indigenous food sovereignty and land stewardship in agriculture “frontiers”.Agriculture and Human Values, 39(4), 1191-1206. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-022-10312-7Robin, T. (2019). Our hands at work: Indigenous food sovereignty in W-estern Canada. Journal of Agriculture,Food Systems, and Community Development, 9(2), 85-99. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2019.09B.007Ruttle, J. (2024, January 9). B.C. warned to brace for cold snap, winter weather driving conditions ... VancouverSun. https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/bc-cold-snap-winter-weatherTaylor, J. (2013). Food security and food sovereignty in the Creston Valley of British Columbia. University ofBritish Columbia Open Library. https://open.library.ubc.ca/media/stream/pdf/24/1.0390002/4UBC Botanical Garden. (2019, April 18). About Us. https://botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/about/about-us/27UBC Climate Resilient GardensUBC Campus & Community Planning. (2023). Climate Action Plan 2030.https://planning.ubc.ca/sustainability/sustainability-action-plans/climate-action-plan-2030UBC Gardening in UBC’s green spaces. (2020, January 29). Student Services.https://students.ubc.ca/ubclife/gardening-ubcs-green-spaces#:~:text=As%20a%20campus%20with%20a,in%20a%20field%20of%20dandelions.UBC Sustainability. (2023). UBC Sustainability. https://sustain.ubc.ca/UBC Sustainability. (n.d.). Campus Gardens. UBC Sustainability.https://sustain.ubc.ca/campus/food/campus-gardensUniversity Neighborhoods Association. (2023, May 30). Community gardens. UNA.https://www.myuna.ca/gardens/University of California (2024). Wind Damage to Plants. Ucanr.edu.https://marinmg.ucanr.edu/PROBLEMS/EXTREME_CONDITIONS/Wind/#:~:text=Strong%20gusty%20winds%20can%20shred,and%20brown%20around%20the%20edges. Webster, E., Cameron, R. & Culham, A. (2017). Gardening in a changing climate. Technical Report. RoyalHorticultural Society, London. pg. 88.Ziervogel, G. & Ericksen, P. J. (2010). Adapting to climate change to sustain food security. InterdisciplinaryReviews on Climate Change. 1(4). 525-540. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.5628UBC Climate Resilient GardensAppendicesAppendix A: Additional FiguresTable A.1 Soil Temperature Collected During 6 Days at °C at AG: Agronomy Garden, ROTR: Roots onthe Roof, BG: UBC Botanical Garden, UNA: University Neighborhoods Association Greenway SouthgardenSites 14/03/24 15/03/24 19/03/24 21/03/24 22/03/24 26/03/24AG 7 °C 6.1°C 9.4°C 9.4°C 9.4°C 9.4°CROTR 5.3°C 6.2°C 8.2°C 8°C 8.1°C 8.8°CBG 5.5°C 6.5°C 8°C 8.5°C 8.5°C 9.33°CUNA 6.5°C 6.9°C 9.7°C 9°C 9.6°C 9.6°CTable A.2 Air Temperature Collected During 6 Days at °C at AG: Agronomy Garden, ROTR: Roots onthe Roof, BG: UBC Botanical Garden, UNA: University Neighborhoods Association Greenway SouthgardenSites 14/03/24 15/03/24 19/03/24 21/03/24 22/03/24 26/03/24AG 8 °C 7 °C 9 °C 9 °C 9 °C 7 °CROTR 8 °C 9 °C 11 °C 10 °C 10 °C 10 °CBG 7 °C 8 °C 10 °C 8 °C 10 °C 8 °CUNA 7 °C 9 °C 9 °C 10 °C 11 °C 9 °CTable A.3 Air Speed Collected During 6 Days at km/h at AG: Agronomy Garden, ROTR: Roots on theRoof, BG: UBC Botanical Garden, UNA: University Neighborhoods Association Greenway SouthgardenSites 14/03/24 15/03/24 19/03/24 21/03/24 22/03/24 26/03/24AG 7km/h - 10km/h 5km/h 11km/h 5km/hROTR 8km/h 10km/h 11km/h 16km/h 8km/h 5km/hBG 7km/h 9km/h 7km/h 16km/h 5km/h 6km/hUNA 9 km/h 10 km/h 7km/h 5km/h 10km/h 6km/h29UBC Climate Resilient GardensTable A.4 Raw Data of Prepared Soil Samples for Measuring Percent Moisture ContentSitesTin Wieight(g)Tin+Wet Soil(g)Tin+Dry Soil(g)Wet Soil Weight(g)Dry SoilWeight (g)Soil Moisture(%)BG1 1 11.02 6.78 10.02 5.78 73.35640138BG2 1.25 11.73 7.17 10.48 5.92 77.02702703BG3 0.98 11.9 7.11 10.92 6.13 78.14029364BG4 0.99 12.11 7.07 11.12 6.08 82.89473684UNA1 1 11.69 8.28 10.69 7.28 46.84065934UNA2 1 11.96 8.89 10.96 7.89 38.91001267UNA3 1.58 11.38 8.27 9.8 6.69 46.48729447UNA4 1.51 11.36 8.34 9.85 6.83 44.21669107ROTR1 1.57 12.41 8.6 10.84 7.03 54.19630156ROTR2 1.59 12.18 8.92 10.59 7.33 44.47476126ROTR3 0.99 11.98 8.18 10.99 7.19 52.8511822ROTR4 1.57 12.22 8.49 10.65 6.92 53.9017341AG1 0.98 11.96 8.77 10.98 7.79 40.94993582AG2 0.99 12.57 9.25 11.58 8.26 40.1937046AG3 1.58 11.9 9.45 10.32 7.87 31.13087675AG4 1.56 12.96 9.29 11.4 7.73 47.47736093Table A.5 Soil pH at AG: Agronomy Garden, ROTR: Roots on the Roof, BG: UBC Botanical Garden,UNA: University Neighborhoods Association Greenway South gardenSites Sample #1 Sample #2 Sample #3 Sample #4AG 5.58 5.83 5.37 5.81ROTR 5.93 6.27 7.06 6.43BG 7.11 6.94 6.57 7.07UNA 7.12 6.90 6.70 7.0430UBC Climate Resilient GardensAppendix B: Data Collection ToolsB.1 Focus Group and Interview Availability Form31UBC Climate Resilient GardensB.2 Focus Group and Interview Consent Form32UBC Climate Resilient Gardens33UBC Climate Resilient GardensB.3 Focus Group and Interview Questions1. What kind of weather has caused the most challenge in your garden?2. What kinds of impacts have these events had on your plants? (yield,management, etc.)3. What methods have you implemented to combat the impacts of extreme weather events?4. Where did you learn/source these strategies?5. How have these methods changed over time? How have you adapted?6. What resources would be helpful in increasing your garden’s resilience to extreme weather events?(ex. information, financial support, management recommendations, network, supplies, etc.)7. Do you think that increasing the connection between gardens would improve the resiliency of yourgarden to extreme weather events? How might increased connection between gardens look?B.4 Interview Notes34UBC Climate Resilient Gardens35UBC Climate Resilient Gardens36UBC Climate Resilient Gardens37UBC Climate Resilient Gardens38UBC Climate Resilient Gardens39UBC Climate Resilient Gardens40UBC Climate Resilient GardensAppendix C: ProcedureC.1 How the Soil Samples pH was Measured1. In a "Dixie Cup" place:a. For inorganic soils: 20 gm of soil and 20 ml of distilled waterb. For organic soils: 10 gm of soil and 20 ml of distilled water or, if necessary, 5 gm of soil and 20 ml ofdistilled water.3. Prepare some duplicates.4 . Stir the suspension several times during the next 30 minutes.5. Let stand for about an hour to allow most of the suspended clay to settle.6. Measure the pH by carefully immersing the combination electrode into the clear supernatant solution.*The soil samples were dried out for a week before being measured and used for pH testingC.2 How the Soil Samples Moisture was Measured1. Weighed 10g sample of wet soil2. Dried the sample in the oven3. Weighted the Dried sample soil4. Calculated the moisture:a: % Moisture = (Wet Soil Weight (g) - Dry Soil Wright (g)) / Dri Soil Weight (g)41UBC Climate Resilient GardensAppendix D: Deliverable (Toolkit)42
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UBC Social Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Report
University of British Columbia. LFS 450
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Supporting UBC Campus Landscapes and Food Systems during Extreme Weather Events
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