Fraser Valley Regional District.
We transformed complex emergency data into accessible, life-saving resources for over 325,000 residents. Through intuitive design and vulnerability profiling, we empowered diverse communities—including remote and Indigenous groups—to better prepare for and respond to critical threats like wildfires and floods.
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Fraser Valley Regional District
The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) is a local government that delivers over 100 separate services to approximately 325,000 residents in British Columbia's Fraser Valley. Created in 1995 through the amalgamation of three regional districts, FVRD is now the third most populous regional district in British Columbia, covering an area of 13,361 square kilometres.
The organization is responsible for governance, administration, and services for eight unincorporated electoral areas, as well as shared services for the municipalities of Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, Kent, Hope, and Harrison Hot Springs. These services include water systems, waste management, fire protection, enhanced 911 service, emergency preparedness and recovery, air quality monitoring, growth management, and park maintenance.
The FVRD reached out to Beacon to help design its Emergency Management Plan, EM 101 animation, and Area E Evacuation Guide (the first of eight).
Our solutions
Developing community vulnerability profiles
Working alongside Torpy Consulting, we developed a strategic approach centred on community vulnerability profiles, a methodology that assesses each community based on critical factors like road access, communications infrastructure, and self-support amenities using a 0 to 5 scoring system. We translated this complex data into clear visual outputs, including radial graphs where a more condensed circle immediately signals greater vulnerability. This visual system makes it easy for emergency planners and community members alike to understand risk at a glance.
Designing for clarity and action
Our design work brought the emergency management plan to life through carefully crafted maps, demographic data visualization, and colour-coded systems for different electoral areas. We also created a series of companion evacuation guides, each colour-coded to its corresponding area, ensuring residents have accessible, easy-to-follow resources when they need them most. As these guides are rolled out, they directly improved the community resiliency score, thus demonstrating immediate and measurable impact.
Culturally sensitive Indigenous engagement
For FVRD's Indigenous engagement initiative, we designed an EM 101 animation that explains emergency management principles in an accessible way. Using a game board visual, we were able to generalize information effectively while avoiding cultural misrepresentation, which ensures that the content respects and includes the needs of Indigenous communities in emergency planning.
The payoff
FVRD's communities across the Fraser Valley are better equipped to face emergencies, from floods and wildfires to landslides.
The intuitive vulnerability profiles and colour-coded evacuation guides give residents clear, actionable information they can trust when it matters most—especially those in remote electoral areas with limited infrastructure. The EM 101 animation also brings emergency preparedness knowledge to diverse audiences, including Indigenous communities whose needs are often overlooked in traditional planning. Together, these resources are building stronger, more resilient communities where people understand the climate-related risks they face and have accurate information to help protect themselves and their families during critical moments.
Nature Conservancy of Canada.
