RC114 SeptOct 2024 - Magazine - Page 26
ASSET MANAGEMENT
Understanding climate risks and boosting equity
In addition to prioritizing the growth of asset management skills and
practices, the sector is also evolving to include climate change as a
key consideration. This means not just being aware of the projected
FCM’s Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP) plays a key role in creating
networks and developing a culture of knowledge sharing by gathering asset
management professionals from across the country to share and exchange ideas.
life span of assets, but also understanding how the efects of climate
change4think extreme weather events like nooding, heat waves and
ice storms4will afect an asset9s ability to function and cope. While
these events aren9t new to Canadian municipalities, they9re increasing
in severity and frequency, meaning asset planning from decades ago
is likely insuïcient.
In New Brunswick, for instance, the Community of Three Rivers
and the Town of Salisbury have updated their asset management
plans to include climate considerations in the risk assessment process.
Salisbury9s climate risk assessment has helped them identify which
assets are most vulnerable to climate hazards, which will enable them
to prioritize assets for necessary adaptation measures. And staf in
Three Rivers assessed vulnerabilities for critical assets like roads,
sewers and facilities and created a report with suggestions on how the
community can adapt, with costing for short-term recommendations.
This report has made it easier for decision-makers to understand risks
and make choices to help ensure that assets remain functional and
resilient to potential challenges.
Canadian municipalities are strongly aware of the importance of
prioritizing climate resilience. In fact, through MAMP, 90 per cent have
expressed interest in including climate concerns into their infrastructure planning. This proactive approach highlights the essential role of
asset management in quantifying climate vulnerabilities and seamlessly
integrating them into risk assessment and decision-making.
Equity is another factor that local governments are progressively
building into their infrastructure planning and development. A data-driven approach to asset management can help municipalities evaluate asset conditions across neighbourhoods and allocate resources
more equitably, ensuring equivalent quality of infrastructure. Equity
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across an asset9s life span is increasingly being considered by municipalities as well. By projecting whole lifecycle costs into long-term
onancial planning, decision-makers can ensure that future generations
won9t have to carry the burden of increased costs.
Moving into the future
Implementing asset management is a long journey. Asset management
can be complex, and it requires signiocant time and efort as well as
collaboration across all departments. Staïng is a key factor as well:
turnover and lack of technical expertise can stall progress, as can lack of
buy-in from staf who may be resistant to change. Plus, inconsistent or
inadequate data can limit the ability to make evidence-based decisions.
In short, it can be challenging for municipalities to maintain momentum
and motivation on asset management programs.
The solution is resources, both internal and external. Internally, coordination and cooperation are essential, which
is why many local governments have working groups or
committees that meet regularly to discuss and align asset
management practices across the municipality, not just at
the department level. These groups can help municipalities
improve and coordinate practices such as maintenance
planning, risk assessment and prioritization, performance
monitoring, lifecycle costing and investment planning.
By addressing these areas collectively, municipalities can
ensure a cohesive and strategic approach to managing their
infrastructure assets.
External resources such as funding and training are essential in helping municipalities reach their asset management
goals and an opportunity that simply didn9t exist eight to
10 years ago. In the past eight years, for instance, MAMP awarded $70
million in grant funding to 1,346 municipalities of all sizes4the smallest
has just 20 residents4for the express purpose of improving their asset
management processes and skills. More than 800 of these received not just
a grant, but technical assistance as well.
To help meet the growing demand for asset management support,
new funding opportunities are on the table too, such as the Green Municipal Fund9s newly announced Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation (LLCA) initiative, which aims to help communities adapt and build
long-term infrastructure resiliency to the impacts of climate change.
According to the Canadian Climate Institute, every dollar invested in
adapting to climate change can save as much as $15 in economy-wide
future costs. By 2031, this $530 million initiative will have funded more
than 1,400 municipal activities.
In order for future generations to enjoy the same level of service as
current residents, municipalities must develop a long-term onancial plan
that prioritizes equity and climate resilience in infrastructure decisions.
That9s one reason that municipal staf are making the case for asset management to councils so they can create asset management plans and policies that outline a community9s goals, objectives and strategies to manage
its infrastructure efectively. Programs that support local governments
on this endeavour by ofering funding as well as coaching and technical
assistance and online resources, tools and guides can help inform their
asset management processes and development.
Municipalities have signiocantly evolved their asset management
practices in recent years. Previously, they often relied on reactive measures and lacked dedicated resources for comprehensive planning. Today,
supported by programs like MAMP and LLCA, they9re embracing proactive strategies: creating or updating detailed asset inventories, conducting
condition assessments to inform maintenance and investment decisions
and adopting technology-driven approaches for data management and
analysis. This evolution renects a shift towards more structured and sustainable asset management practices that prioritize climate resilience and
equity, ensuring long-term eïciency and community well-being.
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also build a network of support for participants outside of their municipality.=
Municipal staf are sharing more information within their organizations too, by providing regular updates to council on their progress on asset management. Through all of these initiatives, staf are
boosting their understanding of asset management practices and even
becoming certioed asset management professionals, increasing their
knowledge and skills to better serve their communities.
