June 12-13, 2019
Louis' Loft, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon SK

Global Water Future’s (GWF) Integrated Modelling Program for Canada (IMPC) held its second annual general meeting on June 12-13th, 2019 in Saskatoon. The meeting was meant for researchers from IMPC, the GWF core modelling team, and partner organizations and communities, to present, evaluate, and discuss research progress and  knowledge mobilization successes in the second year, and strategies moving into the final year of Phase I. The meeting was also designed to provide opportunities for our partners and collaborators in user organizations to engage in two-way discussions such as café tables and a stakeholder panel, and also for highly qualified personnel (students, post-doctoral fellows, and research assistants) to showcase their work by way of "2-minute lightning talks" and posters and interactive displays. 

The two-day gathering highlighted the significance of the large amount of modelling work accomplished by the IMPC/Core Modelling team, and the valuable creation of a growing network of researchers-practitioners through IMPC’s work, that includes meaningful partnerships with, and contributions by Indigenous communities. It also highlighted some of the scientific and project management challenges that arise with such a large project and that need to be addressed by IMPC in near future. Some next steps identified include the need to a) form a task-force committee to lead the integration of various modelling components within IMPC; b) improve the visibility of the research and user engagement activities by IMPC/Core Modelling team; and c) plan for the next phase of IMPC which would extend the project until August 2023. 

Contact: Dr. Amin Haghnegahdar, Program Manager, amin.haghnegahdar@usask.ca

July 18-19, 2018
National Hydrology Research Centre, Saskatoon SK

IMPC held its first annual general meeting on July 18-19th, 2018 at National Hydrology Research Centre, Saskatoon. This was a chance for members of the IMPC team, as well as the Global Water Futures (GWF) Core Modelling Team, to present, evaluate, and discuss their progress over the past year. Strategies for user-engagement and knowledge mobilization were also discussed during the meeting.

Nearly 90 people from academic, regulatory, and industrial sectors attended the meeting in-person or online. Attendees included researchers, students, collaborators, and representatives of various indigenous, municipal, provincial, and national stakeholders from 16 organizations, including the University of Saskatchewan, University of Manitoba, University of Waterloo, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Natural Resources Canada, Prairie Provinces Water Board, Government of Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan Water Security Agency, SaskPower, Partners for the Saskatchewan River Basin, Alberta Environment and Parks, City of Calgary, Manitoba Infrastructure and Transportation, Manitoba Hydro, Yukon Department of Environment, and Cumberland House. Martyn Clark, from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, was the featured speaker for the meeting.

In addition to presentations by lead researchers, the meeting was designed to provide extra opportunities for knowledge user communities to engage in discussions via café discussion tables and a modelling panel, and also for Highly Qualified Personel to showcase their work through poster and interactive presentations. The notable final remarks from the strategic advisor to GWF, Professor Howard Wheater, highlighted the significance of creating a community of researchers and users by IMPC so far, the significance of inclusion of the indigenous communities in the research, and the scientific and management progresses and challenges of IMPC to advance the research over year 2 of the program. Two members of the IMPC/GWF team recently passed away, Ric Soulis and Ric Yanowicz, were remembered during this meeting.

September 14-15, 2017
National Hydrology Research Centre, Saskatoon SK

The aim of the IMPC Kick-Off Workshop was to plan for large-scale modelling activities for forecasting, prediction, and water resources management and decision support over the next three years, until August 2020. Key objectives also included integrating the Core Global Water Futures (GWF) Modelling group into IMPC, as well as engaging knowledge producers and collaborators at the outset of the program.

Nearly 70 people from 16 academic, regulatory, and industrial sectors attended the workshop in-person or online to present and discuss their objectives, plans, and perspectives. Distinguished Professor Eric Wood from Princeton University also participated in this workshop as one of the international advisors to the IMPC program.

Final concluding remarks of the workshop emphasized a need for:

• Right and clear directions from the management team for efficient and timely progress;
• A clear Inception Report that outlines explicit plans, timelines, and deliverables;
• A User Engagement Strategy that clearly outlines plans for engaging diverse stakeholders and partners; and
• Close coordination between IMPC and the core modelling team.