This text is part of the special Research section: climate issues
Promoting the adaptation of Quebecers to flooding is the research project carried out jointly by Laval University and the University of Montreal. Several experts from different disciplines combine their strengths to better understand the realities on the ground and find better practices.
The initiative launched last year aims to learn from the consequences of such a disaster in order to limit the human and economic costs and prevent future damage. In the longer term, the project will serve to improve public policies, explains Marc-André Bourgault, assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Laval University. “We start from the idea that each extreme phenomenon highlights the vulnerabilities of societies and infrastructure. But it also highlights the fragility of social ties in different places,” underlines the man who is also director of the tailor-made master’s degree in climate action and co-director of a research axis at the Intersectoral Flood Network of Quebec (RIISQ).
Thus, each disaster provides data that can be used to improve the ability of Quebecers to adapt in anticipation of future similar events, he says. “It is important to document each of these events, in terms of the cause, the impacts, the sequence of steps that were put in place, the alerts, and the reaction of people. All information, both physical and social,” he adds.
He believes that in Quebec, we do not have “a clear idea” of the places where all the floods have occurred since the 1990s. “Just having this information makes it possible to locate areas that are potentially more vulnerable. to future disasters,” he puts forward as a hypothesis.
Join forces
Established in partnership with the Quebec Ministry of Public Security, the project brings together researchers from two universities and different disciplines. “There is a hydrological aspect and a social one. In this second part, it is the people from the University of Montreal who are working with us. They will do interviews in the field and we carry out surveys and polls in the entire population affected by the floods,” explains Pierre Valois, full professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University. Laval and director of the Quebec Observatory for Adaptation to Climate Change.
His team is responsible for developing questionnaires with a view to establishing adaptation indices. “Are people in the general population prepared for flooding? Are they adopting the right behaviors? ” he asks.
As hydrologists are the ones who know the realities on the ground, they provide such information. “I need them to understand what danger people face and also what they need to do to protect themselves. And they may suggest ways, but if the population says: “Look, it’s impossible to do that”, we have to take all that into account before proposing solutions, illustrates Mr. Valois. Previously, it was done separately, but now we work together. Everyone wins in a multidisciplinary project like this. »
The data collected to date by researchers sometimes reveals certain lacks of information to ensure good forecasts. And as the climate is likely to change, this poses an additional challenge for researchers. We must therefore take into account not only the realities imposed by Mother Nature, but also the contexts in which the population evolves. “There are people who are flooded, in distress and who we must help. And that is the aspect that we are bringing to try to better resolve this flooding problem, both on a physical level and on a social level,” concludes Mr. Valois.
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