{"id":288,"date":"2021-11-21T23:52:14","date_gmt":"2021-11-22T07:52:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/?p=288"},"modified":"2021-11-21T23:52:17","modified_gmt":"2021-11-22T07:52:17","slug":"climate-change-and-disability-at-a-community-level-tiny-ecology-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/climate-change-and-disability-at-a-community-level-tiny-ecology-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate Change and Disability at a Community Level (Tiny Ecology 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prompt that I chose for my second Tiny Ecology is based on Elizabeth Wright’s piece on Climate Change, Disability, and Eco-Ableism. This prompt asks us to explore how disability affects people in our community and why it is important to understand disability in our own community in general and in relation to climate change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disability in Whistler<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first thing that came to mind when thinking about how disability affects people in my community was the access to my sit spot. The main access point to my sit spot or anywhere along the Fitzsimmons Creek is the valley trail. The valley trail is a 46 kilometer paved, two way trail that runs from one end of town to the other and can take you to most places in between. As far as accessibility goes, the valley trail is fairly accessible with the exception of a few steeper hills and the occasional pothole in the spring. Moving off of the valley trail towards the creek quickly becomes less accessible. In order to get to my sit spot, you have to climb over multiple larger rocks and then down onto some sand. Thankfully, slightly further down the creek, there are multiple accessible access point with benches offering similar and some even better view points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whistler is a town of roughly 10,000 permanent residents, often with up to 40,000 people in town during peak seasons. From an accessibility standpoint, quadrupling the town\u2019s population can pose some challenges. Whistler\u2019s accessibility improved in 2010 when they hosted events for the Paralymic and Olympic Winter Games. In order to be approved to host the winter games, each facility that hosts an event must meet the standard set by Accessible Design for the Built Environment<\/em>. <\/em>Not only did Whistler\u2019s sport event facilities see accessibility improvements, but a new accessible playground was built, more accessible accommodation was built and renovated, and the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program was expanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whistler Adaptive Sports Program is a non-profit that provides recreational programs for people of all ages with physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities, aiming to break down barriers to entry for sport, recreation, and therapeutic programming. As mentioned, their facilities were expanded with the Paralymic Games in 2010 and they continue to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, Whistler has areas of strength and also areas of improvement in terms of accessibility. So where does climate communication fit in? \u201cWith 37.5% of the global population living with a disability alongside the increasingly alarming problem of climate change, it is our prerogative to ensure that disabled people are included in the solutions\u201d (Wright, 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing that comes to mind is access out of Whistler. The main road out of Whistler to Vancouver is the BC-99 South, a single lane highway that mainly weaves between rock faces and cliffs and the ocean. Alternatively, you can take the BC-99 North towards Pemberton; however, this is only included as an evacuation route in the summer months due to road conditions.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a result of climate change, Whistler is expected to experience longer wildfire seasons in the future. The RMOW\u2019s Community Energy and Climate Change Action Plan (CECAP) suggest that over the next 25 to 55 years Whistler will experience longer, hotter and drier summers\u201d (Sea to Sky Multimodal Evacuation Plan, 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report suggests that on a peak winter day, approximately 267 people would require assistance evacuating and on a peak summer day, approximately 244 people would require assistance evacuating. Of course, many people with disabilities would be able to evacuate independently; however, 37% of 40,000 is 14, 800. Assuming that there would be approximately 40,000 people in Whistler during peak summer or peak winter season and approximately 37% of those people would have varying disabilities, that would mean 14, 800 people with disabilities would need to evacuate. As mentioned, not everyone with a disability would require assistance evacuating. What this does mean is that disability needs to be a main consideration in all aspects of climate action. Furthermore, are adaptation and mitigation measures in Whistler accessible? What barriers do people with disabilities face in taking climate action? Is climate change messaging accessible in our community? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

McColl, M. A. (2021, November 1). Should I say ‘disabled person’ or ‘person with a disability’?\u2060<\/em>. The Conversation. Retrieved November 22, 2021, from https:\/\/theconversation.com\/should-i-say-disabled-person-or-person-with-a-disability-113618.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resort Municipality of Whistler and District of Squamish. (2019). Sea to Sky Multimodal Evacuation Plan<\/em>. https:\/\/dev.whistler.ca\/sites\/default\/files\/2019\/Jul\/related\/25957\/sea_to_sky_multimodal_evacuation_plan_final_26_june_2019.pdf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sowailem, A. &. (2014). Whistler Adaptive Sports Program2014<\/em>. Whistler Adaptive Sports Program. https:\/\/whistleradaptive.com\/.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standardizing accessibility, part of the 2010 Paralympics legacy<\/em>. Standards Council of Canada – Conseil canadien des normes. (2012, March 27). https:\/\/www.scc.ca\/en\/news-events\/features\/features-standardizing-accessibility-part-of-the-2010-paralympics-legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valley Trail updates and projects<\/em>. Resort Municipality of Whistler. (2021, November 3). https:\/\/www.whistler.ca\/culture-recreation\/trails\/valley-trail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wright, E. (2020, February 20). Climate change, disability, and eco-ableism: Why we need to be inclusive to save the planet<\/em>. Medium. https:\/\/uxdesign.cc\/climate-change-disability-and-eco-ableism-why-we-need-to-be-inclusive-when-trying-to-save-the-88bb61e82e4e.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introduction The prompt that I chose for my second Tiny Ecology is based on Elizabeth Wright’s piece on Climate Change, Disability, and Eco-Ableism. This prompt asks us to explore how disability affects people in our community and why it is important to understand disability in our own community in general and in relation to climate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":955,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[28],"class_list":["post-288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cals502","tag-cals-502"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/955"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":289,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions\/289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webspace.royalroads.ca\/a2paul\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}