Our Work

What guides us

Our Vision is to make the Prairie Climate Centre a world class contributor to climate change science, policy and communications for effective education and action in the Canadian Prairies and beyond.

Our Mission is to carry out evidence based science and communications designed to propel innovative climate change solutions in and by communities.

Our Values mean that we are innovative researchers, listeners and storytellers dedicated to fostering positive cultural and environmental change using rigorous data, a decolonizing lens and artistic science. We commit to pursuing academic excellence and scientific and organizational integrity.

What we do

Climate Data and Information

At the Prairie Climate Centre we strive
to put data and information into the hands of users and community
members so they can use it for action and decision-making. Our work
includes building, maintaining and providing climate data sets and
executing qualitative and quantitative community-based research to
address critical knowledge gaps in all regions of the Prairies and
beyond.

Climate Change Research

The Prairie Climate Centre is actively engaged in many aspects of climate change research, collecting and analyzing data on topics as varied as projected climate impacts, risk perception, and communication strategies. We bring this expertise and experience to partnerships with other researchers and those needing applied climate change expertise.

Prairie Climate Centre staff have experience with qualitative and quantitative research methodologies including:

Qualitative interviews
Focus Groups
Surveys

Christey Allen and Danny Blair speaking on a microphone along with an elementary school teacher. They are in a classroom setting.

Matt Loxley and Christey Allen speak to a crowd in front of a podium.

A group of staff standing around a meeting table in an office space, well decorated with plants, tall windows, and a large decorative rug. They are working on a collaborative project (strategic planning) laid out across the desk.

A lyme disease risk map indicating that higher levels of lyme disease will be present with the altered environmental conditions brought on by climate change. It is presented in two informational maps. — Lyme Disease and Climate Change mapping

Municipal climograph data for the city of Winnipeg — Winnipeg Climograph

Data in a table for the municipality of Calgary's climate — Calgary Climate Data Summary

Data processing, reporting, and guidance

We provide data in accessible formats, with support and guidance on interpretation to help users apply the data for their intended use. Our main pathways for providing this support is through our flagship tool: the Climate Atlas of Canada. Here you can access many different resources, such as climate model data, maps and visuals, plain language articles and reports on various topics related to climate change.

Knowledge Mobilization and Translation

Evidence based Climate Change Communication is our strength at the Prairie Climate Centre. We design and share video, mapping and other media, publications and plain language writing and training to mobilize knowledge and resources tailored to the varying needs of different audiences and sectors.

Mapping and Visualization

In its basic form, Climate data generally comes in a format that can be challenging to read, let alone understand. At the Prairie Climate Centre we take large data sets and turn them into something more approachable. We visualize the information into other forms, such as maps, graphs and diagrams.

Check out some of our work:

Izabella Robak in the Winnipeg Art Gallery, standing next to a large projector screen. She speaks to a crowd while a climate risk matrix is on the screen.

Map of the United States of America with Maximum temperature ranges in a high emissions scenario. — Climate Analogues - Winnipeg

Screenshot of the Prairie Climate Atlas. — Prairie Climate Atlas

Screenshot of the Climate Atlas of Canada.

One staff member in a snowy landscape, half crouched to work with camera equipment. The lens is pointed towards the sunrise in the distance, and the cloudy sky partially obscures it. Mountains are on the horizon.

Brett Huson interviewing an individual, both of which are seated in a film setup within an office building.

Three staff members working with camera equipment in an office, with one staff member entering from a side door. The person farthest to the left is gesturing upwards with one hand, everyone else is looking towards the camera setup in-frame.

Three PCC team members walk away from the camera through a snowy forest

A drone being flown over a rocky winter landscape by a PCC staff member, the hazy cloud-filled sky featuring the bright sun resting in the middle of the photo. Mountains can be seen in the background.

Three staff members stand at the edge of a lake, two of them standing by the shoreline and one crouching with a camera in the tall grass. In the distance on the horizon, another forested shore is visible.

In a dense forest environment surrounded by trees, three PCC staff members work with camera equipment, two of them holding cameras while one stands with their back to the viewer.

Two staff members operating camera equipment while filming a third staff member. They are in an outdoor forest environment next to a low-lying creek in early fall daytime weather.

Video-based Storytelling

Documentary video is one of the most powerful tools we have to communicate and help make sense of climate change. Prairie Climate Centre staff have experience producing short-form content, feature films, and participatory films for ourselves and our partners. We have a state-of-the-art video lab located at the University of Winnipeg and produce all of our content in-house. Several of our staff have documentary filmmaking backgrounds, and many of our master’s students incorporate video into their research.

Our way of working often involves collaboratively developing video content with local and Indigenous knowledge holders and other experts. Including voices of lived experience helps explain the reality and meaning of climate change in Canada. Through filmmaking, we can bridge the science and human dimensions of climate change.

Plain Language Written Communications

We produce a wide range of written communications materials for digital and print audiences, including web pages, social media campaigns, and more formal reports. Our communications about climate change projections, impacts, and action foreground a storytelling approach grounded in the physical and social science of climate change. Prairie Climate Centre staff have experience producing content for a wide range of audiences, based on leading communications principles, practices and research.

Climate Atlas and Health Maps cover page vectors — Report: The Climate Atlas and Health

Screenshot of the article "Agriculture and Climate Change" from the Climate Atlas of Canada — Plain Language Article: Agriculture and Climate Change Article

A screenshot of the Climate Atlas lesson plan — Lesson Plan: Intro to the Climate Atlas of Canada

Collaboration for Action

The Prairie Climate Centre is deeply aware of the transdisciplinary knowledges necessary to adequately address climate change. Each sector, municipality, business, and individual is impacted differently, Therefore, establishing relationships and the co-development of knowledges and actions through engagement and dialogue are essential to building understanding, and at the core of the Prairie Climate Centre’s values. Through collaboration and partnerships we use the resources we develop to support policy, action and education on climate change at local, regional and national levels.

Vulnerability and Risk Assessment, and Adaptation Planning

Canada is already seeing the impacts of climate change. We are likely to experience change at twice the rate of the rest of the world, while certain regions will experience even greater rates of change. Understanding risks and preparing for them is vital for increasing our climate resiliency. Working with partners through the vulnerability, risk assessment, and adaptation planning processes, we combine our expertise on climate science and climate change with the local knowledge, expertise and experience of partners and communities.

Marcel Kreutzer working with a large workshop crowd, seated in circle.

PCC staff standing below a banner for the AFN 3rd National Climate Gathering — At the AFN 3rd National Climate Gathering (2024)

Izabella Robak seated at a table covered in post-it notes, with a computer in front of her. In the background, a community member writes on a large whiteboard.

Screenshot of a Miro collaboration board.

Two staff members sitting at a desk, discussing climate change adaptation planning. The desk is covered in notebooks, pens, and printed notes. — Climate Change Adaptation Planning workshop in the City of Selkirk

Danny Blair and a group of Manitoba politicians stand on a small stage. The podium in front of them reads "Taking Action on Climate Change."

The Prairie Climate Centre team sit in a conference room along with other climate professionals, during a meeting.

Brett Huson (Hetxw’ms Gyetxw) stands at a laptop in front of an audience, looking back towards the camera and smiling. — Adaptation Futures 2023

Four PPC team members wearing orange Toybox branded T-Shirts, standing in an office doorway and smiling. — Collaboration with Toybox

Three people seated on stage in front of a large projector screen, featuring an online video call of another person. One individual is Brett Huson (Hetxw’ms Gyetxw), PCC Team Member. — Adaptation Futures 2023

Two staff members giving a presentation, next to a projector screen indicating that this is the 2020 Adaptation Conference. They are presenting to a group of interested looking business people sitting at tables. — Adaptation 2020 Conference

Two PCC staff presenting at the AFN 3rd National Climate Gathering — AFN 3rd National Climate Gathering

Outreach and Education

We strive to make climate change understandable and approachable. We tailor our work to a wide range of audiences. The Prairie Climate Centre staff and directors frequently bring our expertise to audiences through lectures, presentations, film screenings, and workshops. We also create lesson plans and other resources for the classroom that are freely accessible through the Climate Atlas of Canada.

Want to get in touch?

Are you an organization, research team, or individual, who wants to collaborate with the Prairie Climate Centre? Reach out to [email protected] and let us know – we’d be happy to hear from you.