The PARCS en Santé program: Mitigating the impacts of climate change on human and ecosystem health in peri-urban nature parks through citizen science

The PARCS en Santé project aims to implement and evaluate a long-term intervention strategy with input from the public. This strategy is expected to protect ecosystems in peri-urban nature parks while reducing risks to human health from tick-borne diseases in a changing climate.

Project details

Scientific program

2020-2025 programming

Theme(s) and priority(s)

Social and Health Challenges - Adaptation of Living Environments

Start and duration

January 2024 • to come

Project Status

Starting

Principal(s) investigator(s)

Cécile Aenishaenslin

FMV UdeM

Context

Human health, ecosystem health and animal health are threatened by climate change and biodiversity loss. In our urbanized societies, peri-urban nature parks (natural areas that are open to the public and close to urban areas) help mitigate the impacts of these disturbances. A growing number of studies show the positive effects of these parks on human physical and mental health and their importance in the conservation of animal and plant species. However, nature park ecosystems are threatened by global and anthropogenic changes like habitat fragmentation and biodiversity loss. These disturbances include an increase in the incidence of tick-borne diseases in humans and animals. Specifically, climate change and an overabundance of deer are contributing to the establishment and northward expansion of Ixodes spp. tick populations, which are major vectors of certain pathogens in North America. These include Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, which causes Lyme disease.

Objective(s)

The project will be co-developed with partner parks and volunteers.

Main objective

To study how citizen science helps accelerate adaptation to climate change by integrating and acting on the public’s perceptions and behaviours regarding ecosystem conservation and the risks of tick-borne disease

Specific objectives

To evaluate the effects of participation in the citizen science project on:
- Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) concerning ticks and tick-borne diseases
- Perceptions of ecosystem conservation and the social acceptability of interventions to mitigate the impacts of climate and anthropogenic change on human and ecosystem health
To assess barriers to and facilitators of the implementation of the citizen science project in six Quebec peri-urban parks

Methodology

The research project will be conducted in two phases: an exploratory phase and an intervention and evaluation phase.

1. Exploratory phase: observation and immersion in several types of environments (peri-urban parks and scientific meetings) that will help refine the research questions, methods and tools to be used in the next phase.

Conceptualization of the social dimension of the peri-urban parks with a better grasp of the behaviour and habits of park users and their perspectives/interests and concerns
Better understanding of the dynamics of inter/transdisciplinary collaboration through ethnographic data collection methods (active and passive observation) and the formal participation of various project participants

2. Intervention and evaluation phase: evaluation of the use of citizen science in monitoring and improving knowledge and behaviour in a context of tick-borne disease risks and ecosystem conservation. It will use a mixed methodology:

Data collection methods such as a quasi-experimental set of specifications with pre- and post-intervention questionnaires
Scientific meetings with members of the public
Participation in three workshops on ecological integrity, tick-borne diseases and the links between climate and health
The Delphi technique
Individual semi-directed interviews before and after the interventions begin

Expected results

Mobilization and knowledge transfer workshops (3 per park)

Awareness and knowledge transfer materials co-developed with participating citizens (videos, podcast)

Research report

Benefits for adaptation

Co-development, with partners and concerned citizens, of scientific knowledge crucial to building and strengthening the adaptation of living environments in a changing climate

An assessment of the added value of citizen science in accelerating adaptation to climate change, particularly with respect to ecosystem conservation and the prevention of emerging health risks, in the specific context of Quebec peri-urban nature parks

The project breaks new ground by implementing the One Health approach to address biodiversity loss and emerging infectious diseases jointly in Canadian peri-urban nature parks

Funding

This project is partly funded by the Government of Quebec and meets the objectives of the Plan pour une économie verte 2030.

Other participants

Manon Boiteux, UdeM
Katrine Turgeon, UQO
Janie Houle, UQAM
Sara Teitelbaum, UdeM
Kate Zinzser, UdeM/ESPUM
Espace pour la vie
INSPQ
SÉPAQ (parc national des Îles-de-Boucherville, parc national du Mont-Saint-Bruno, parc national de la Yamaska)
Ville de Longueuil (parc Michel-Chartrand)
Ville de Montréal (parcs-natures de la Pointe-aux-Prairies et du Bois-de-l’île-Bizard)
Ville de Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville (parc national du Mont-Saint-Bruno)
Ville de Sainte-Julie (parc national du Mont-Saint-Bruno)