“Climate Change Mitigation Strategies” 
Hope Gunn, Master’s Candidate in Landscape Architecture, University of Manitoba 

The purpose of the proposed research is to assess the affects of sea level rise on the coastal landscapes of Prince Edward Island and to explore methods of adaptation through planning and design. The intent of the research is to provide communities of PEI with the information needed to increase their adaptive capacity and decrease their current vulnerability to sea level rise. The City of Summerside will be used as a case study to propose a method for assessing the vulnerability of individual properties, by combining the potential impact risk with the property’s adaptive capacity into a single index variable. The resulting maps can be used to influence future development and planning projects within the community.This research project will address the role landscape architects could have when planning future projects within areas vulnerable to sea level rise. Adaptation strategies which are often categorized by either, protection, accommodation or retreat techniques will be examined, and protocols for when each should be applied will be recommended.