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IPCC Cities Conference Indigenous & Scientific Knowledge on Adaptation Session

Initiative Overview

Location:

Edmonton, Alberta

Duration:

March 2018

Major Supporters:

IPCC, City of Edmonton, Alberta Government

As part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Cities Conference in Edmonton, TRI and several of Alberta’s Indigenous groups, their global south partners, and the Government of Alberta co-created a series of dialogues on the importance of Indigenous and scientific knowledge systems working together toward climate change resilience.

The overall aim of the dialogues was to create a welcoming space for Indigenous knowledge holders to share their stories and views with the scientific community that in turn would:

  • provide inspiration to IPCC conference attendees, particularly in viewing climate challenges differently;
  • inspire a process for knowledge exchange between Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge holders that could be replicated in future IPCC meetings; and
  • ignite interest in Indigenous knowledge holders, including youth to spur climate change action in their urban and rural environments.

The collaboration provided a replicable process for engaging Indigenous Peoples’ in meaningful ways and encouraging a pathway for meaningful Indigenous engagement that could help strengthen the IPCC’s contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Laura Stewart

Board Member

Laura Stewart is the Community Wildfire Resilience Coordinator with Forsite Fire, supporting communities across Canada with wildfire risk assessments, mitigation planning, and program delivery. She has more than a decade of experience advancing wildfire resilience at Indigenous, municipal, provincial/territorial, and national levels. Previously, Laura served nearly eleven years as Alberta’s Provincial FireSmart Specialist, leading community, WUI, neighbourhood, and Home Ignition Zone programs, coordinating funding, and partnering with communities and fire services across the province. She has also served as Board Chair with both the Partners in Protection Association (FireSmart Canada) and the Community Wildfire Resilience Association of Alberta.

 

Sara Walsh, PhD

Board Member

Sara Walsh, PhD, is a disaster risk reduction and climate resilience specialist with more than 15 years of experience spanning Canada, Nepal, the Middle East, and North Africa. Until November 2025, she served as Thematic Lead for Climate and Resilience with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), where she supported Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to strengthen their climate and risk reduction work across the region. Sara currently works as a freelance consultant with the United Nations, governments, and humanitarian organizations on recovery, risk governance, and community-based resilience. She teaches at a Canadian university and holds a PhD in Disaster Risk Reduction. Her work emphasizes anticipatory action, equity, and bridging research with practice to shape more resilient and sustainable futures.

Alison Criscitiello

Board Member

Alison Criscitiello, PhD, is an ice core scientist and high-altitude mountaineer who explores the history of climate and sea ice in polar and high-alpine regions using ice core chemistry. Alison’s work also focuses on environmental contaminant histories in ice cores from the Canadian high Arctic and the water towers of the Canadian Rockies. In 2010, she led the first all-women’s ascent of Lingsarmo, a 22,818-foot peak in the Indian Himalaya. Alison has earned three American Alpine Club (AAC) climbing awards, the John Lauchlan and Mugs Stump alpine climbing awards, as well as the first Ph.D. in Glaciology ever conferred by MIT. She is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab at the University of Alberta. She is the co-founder of Girls on Ice Canada.