Wavemaker

Quinn Howard

Queen Elizabeth Hospital,

Victoria, PEI

"With integrated artistic performance, community participation and provincial buy-in the Community Climate Action Living Shorelines Project demonstrated the possibility of living shorelines methods for erosion management in PEI."

How are they making waves?

Quinn is working on the ‘Living Shoreline’ project in the Municipality of Victoria to prevent critical infrastructure on PEI’s coastline from being affected by sea-level rise and coastal erosion.

Quinn is helping to create a shoreline that can accommodate the rising sea levels, and last for years to come.

She is doing this by planting Indigenous species of plants, and monitoring changes in sea level with pins.

Applications of innovation for future use

In the future, these living shorelines will stabilize shorelines in PEI, reduce erosion and overall enhance coastal resilience in the event of severe sea level rise.

On a global level, the living shoreline approach is already being implemented internationally. Coastal erosion is an issue many countries are facing, namely the Philippines, Brazil and Thailand. Because of this, this naturalization of shorelines could have effective global application.

Facts about issues being addressed

Much of PEI’s coastlines are privately owned, making it difficult to mitigate sea level rise.

A 30cm rise in sea level rise has been observed in PEI since the year 1900.

It has been predicted that by the year 2100, there will be a 100cm sea level rise.

Storm surges are also expected to rise in intensity and frequency as well.