Adaptive and Resilient Communities Cohort
Overcoming Barriers. Implementing Actions.
April – November 2026
Apply for the 2026 cohort before March 25, 2026
Join us to implement local climate adaptation and resilience projects
The Adaptive and Resilient Communities Cohort (ARCC) is designed to catalyze community-level actions to advance local climate adaptation and resilience projects. The cohort will bring together around 10 members on this journey of applied learning and action that includes monthly communities of practice, tailored coaching, and access to the latest tools and resources, designed to help you overcome barriers to action.
Through the ARCC journey, members will dive deep into their local climate adaptation and resilience project. This progress will build a strong foundation and momentum for continued work beyond the cohort.
We will do this together by exploring:
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Implementation Barriers – how to understand, prioritize, and mitigate your local implementation challenges;
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Community Assets – how to leverage what is strong and weave in local knowledges and leadership to overcome barriers to action;
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Equitable Engagement – how to meaningfully engage those most impacted by climate change in implementing and evaluating this work;
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Strong Partnerships – how to build, resource, and steward resilient, cross-sectoral collaborations throughout implementation;
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Progress Evaluation – how to capture and learn from the process and outcome impacts that emerge during implementation.
The ARCC is open to both English- and French-speaking teams. Cohort-wide offerings will be delivered mostly in English, with French breakout spaces available during the monthly sessions.
This cohort journey would not be possible without the catalytic support and thought partnership of Climate Caucus and Partners for Action. We are excited that both partners are supporting this journey with their technical and network expertise.
Why join the ARCC?
What you can expect:
Members will benefit from access to learning, peer exchange, expert coaching, and capability-building opportunities throughout the program. These include:
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Exclusive monthly Community of Practice (CoP) sessions with guest speakers and technical experts.
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Regular peer exchange sessions to receive feedback from and strategize with cohort participants.
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Tailored coaching calls and support from Tamarack Learning Centre consultants, Climate Caucus, and Partners4Action.
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Month-to-month support from your Tamarack lead to apply learnings from experts and peers via regular check-ins.
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Asynchronous learning via a curated cohort library of tools and resources, and Tamarack courses.
The Cohort Journey
What to expect during an average month
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One community of practice session (2 hours) OR one coaching call or peer exchange (1 hour)
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A minimum of 1 hour of optional reading materials
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1 hour connecting and checking in with your Tamarack lead (depending on needs)
Cohort Calendar
Monthly meetings will alternate between community of practice sessions (presentation-oriented) and emergent learning sessions (discussion-oriented). Please note that session themes are subject to change to respond to cohort learning needs.
All sessions will take place on Tuesdays from 1pm EST. Community of practice sessions will last 2 hours and emergent learning sessions will last 1 hour. Participants are encouraged and expected to attend all sessions.
| Type of session | Date | Session theme |
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Community of Practice |
April 28 |
Starting with Community: Leveraging Local Strengths for Climate Adaptation and Resilience |
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Emergent Learning |
May 12 |
Peer Exchange |
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Community of Practice |
June 16 |
Engaging Communities and Building Partnerships through Collaborative Leadership |
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Emergent Learning |
July 7 |
Group Coaching |
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Community of Practice |
August 18 |
Sustaining Climate Adaptation and Resilience Projects through Collaboration and Funding |
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Emergent Learning |
September 15 |
Peer Input Process or Case Study Discussion |
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Community of Practice |
October 6 |
Documenting Impact in Climate Adaptation and Resilience Initiatives |
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Emergent Learning |
November 3 |
Interactive Session on Storytelling |
1. Be a community organization, neighbourhood group or public body engaged in climate action.
Organizations or groups may include, but are not limited to, community organizations, non-profits, co-operatives, grassroots or resident-led groups, public agencies (e.g., health and education), municipalities, provincial or territorial governments, First Nations, Inuit, or Métis governments and councils.
We recommend that each organization or group be represented by at least two participants throughout the cohort journey, whenever possible.
2. Have completed some climate adaptation and resilience planning and wish to implement an action or project that emerged from this work.
This refers to any activities and projects concerning:
- community response to climate risks and hazards;
- emergency response to unnatural disaster events;
- asset management and resilience of the built environment;
- impacts on community health and healthcare systems;
- stewardship of the natural environment and biodiversity;
- workforce transformation and industry adjustment to climate hazards;
- social connectedness to engage in climate action and emergency response.
3. Able to articulate the implementation barrier(s) and local challenge(s) that they wish to address through the cohort journey.
What do we mean by “implementation barrier(s)”?
This refers to a challenge or setback that hinders local adaptation or resilience projects from seeing progress. While barriers can vary across contexts and projects, there are many common barriers such as human resources, financing, and governance. For more details on common implementation barriers, see Table 4 in section 2.6 of Canada in a Changing Climate: Synthesis Report.
4. A stated commitment to centring climate equity in your adaptation and resilience work.
What do we mean by “climate equity”?
Climate equity refers to the goal of addressing the unequal burdens of climate change, while ensuring that all people share the benefits of climate protection efforts. Achieving equity means that all people – regardless of their ancestry, race, gender, age, sexuality, immigration status, ability, or income – live in safe, healthy, just communities. It also recognizes that because of historic and contemporary injustices, extra care must be taken to ensure those made most vulnerable by current systems are not further marginalized by climate action, and that their lived knowledges and experiences help guide decision-making. This definition was adapted in part from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
5. The local commitment and capacity to participate in a cohort focused on implementing existing plans, priorities, and actions.
What do we mean by “local capacity and commitment”?
After three years of hosting cohorts, we have learned that one of the difficulties of participating is having the capacity to fully participate and make the most of the experience. We strongly encourage those applying to consider their own resources to participate in the Cohort Journey and whether the timing is right for them.
Applying to the Cohort
We invite Tamarack’s network of members, learners, and others interested in becoming a part of the network to complete the ARCC application form. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis until March 25th, 2026.
Please contact Erika Massoud at erika@tamarackcommunity.ca if you need support completing your application or have any questions. All applicants will be notified by email of their application status by April 9th.
Selection Timeline
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Launch call for applications: January 30, 2026
- Q&A session: March 4, 2026 - Click here to register
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Deadline to apply: March 25, 2026
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Confirmation of acceptance: April 9, 2026
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Launch adaptation and resilience cohort: April 28, 2026
About Tamarack Membership
To join the ARCC, participants must be or become a Tamarack member. More information on Tamarack’s membership and costs can be found here.
Please note that Tamarack members include teams, collaboratives, and organizations who are members of any of our Networks for Change, including Community Climate Transitions, Communities Ending Poverty, Communities Building Belonging, and Communities Building Youth Futures.
Please indicate in your application whether you are currently a Tamarack member or would like to become one. For existing members, the cohort will not add any additional costs to your Tamarack membership.
If you have questions about membership, please contact Erika Massoud at erika@tamarackcommunity.ca.
Climate adaptation and resilience
Climate adaptation refers to the action of adjusting to the current and/or expected impacts of climate change. It refers to making changes to processes, practices, and structures that will help limit harm posed by a changing climate. Actions can include both those that are short- and long-term and incremental and transformative.
Climate resilience refers to the actual capacity to prepare for and recover from the current and/or expected impacts of climate change. Resilience is more associated with a worldview that advocates for system-wide changes and long-term capability-building to enhance the ability to absorb changes and recover from their impacts.
This definition was adapted in part from the UNFCCC and Grantham Research Institute.
A focus on action over planning
The Adaptation Cycle
Low Carbon Resilience
Deep collaboration and partnership as essential
Climate adaptation and resilience are whole-of-community endeavours that rely on the ingenuity and support of all sectors and communities, especially those most vulnerable and impacted. The cohort is committed to supporting participants to ensure projects and actions meaningfully build local infrastructure for collaboration (e.g., Collective Impact) to overcome barriers to action and unleash the sustainable and durable impacts of action taken collectively.
Equity at the centre
Multisolving
As we experience the convergence of multiple globalized crises, our adaptation and resilience efforts must be responsive to these increasingly diverse and complex realities. This means finding ways that our adaptation projects help communities weather a changing climate as well as other challenges like inflation, housing shortages, and an aging population. Woven into the cohort curriculum and supports is a commitment to this type of inter-issue solutions work.
Asset-Based
The cohort builds upon this approach to community development that asks us to start with what is locally strong and abundant. It involves connecting the individual, collective, natural, and physical strengths, knowledges, and resources already present in a community to galvanize local change. Teams will explore how they can deeply engage with the community as active changemakers in projects that concern their livelihoods and well-being.
“The national calls providing knowledge and resources to support the work and the individual consultations were very helpful.”
– ARCC 2025 Participant
“The resources, teaching, networking, coaching sessions and incredibly sensitive and personal responsiveness of Tamarack (not to mention the world class resources) have helped us gain confidence and endurance.”
– CCT Member
“CCT provided frameworks and networking opportunities that were instrumental in fostering our community's collaborative relationships."
– CCT Member
Learn More About Past Cohorts
Since 2024, we have had over 80 communities participate in our English and French-language cohorts. Learn about our 2025 ARCC participants in this blog post. Read our three-year impact report and the linked blog posts here (2022, 2023, and 2024) to learn more about the communities and our accomplishments together.
CONTACT THE TAMARACK LEAD
Have questions about this cohort? Please reach out to Erika Massoud at erika@tamarackcommunity.ca
Erika Massoud
Community Animator