Deep Adaptation: A Framework for Climate Resilience, Decarbonization, and Planetary Health in Ontario

The focus of this doctoral thesis is the development of a comprehensive framework for Deep Adaptation in Ontario through the implementation of green infrastructure. Green infrastructure may be described as a series of networks of green space that provide various ecosystem services. Examples of green infrastructure include green roofs, growing roofs, green walls, urban vegetation and forestry, wetlands, stormwater and retention ponds, rain gardens, bioswales, hedgerows, riparian buffers, woodlots, and tree-based intercropping systems in agricultural settings. This research provides a clear understanding of how green infrastructure works as a complex intervention, its characteristics, the metrics for performance and regulatory enforcement, and the multiple co-benefits that can be leveraged if green infrastructure is strategically applied. This framework for Deep Adaptation has been developed using an interdisciplinary approach supported by systematic review: health equity impact assessment, regulatory impact assessment, controlled field study, and logic modelling to demonstrate green infrastructure as a complex adaptation intervention that moderates harm and capitalizes on beneficial opportunities, in addition to evaluating its capacity as an intervention to perform the dual function of both climate change adaptation and mitigation. This Deep Adaptation framework has the potential to mainstream complex adaptation by examining green infrastructure as a complex intervention using the multiple lenses of urban design, land-use planning, public policy, and public health.Ph.D.2020-11-16 00:00:0