NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS
Support from the President's Interdisciplinary Seed Grant.
Partners: Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems; Engineer Research and Development Center, Army Corp of Engineers
This work is the first step in developing a Regional Center for Research on Nature-based solutions (NBS). NBS are an emerging worldwide practice that uses natural features and processes to increase resilience to climatological and environmental stress and change, while providing environmental, economic, and social benefits. NBS encompass conservation and rehabilitation of natural ecosystems, and the enhancement or creation of natural processes in modified or artificial ecosystems. Solutions span a range of scales, from small local features to entire landscapes, and work with conventional infrastructure to meet a range of objectives, such as reducing flood damages and securing safe and ample water supplies. Examples of NBS include construction of dunes, marshes, islands, and reefs that protect coastal communities against storms, and forest management to reduce riverine flooding and purify water for downstream communities.
The introduction of natural dynamics into our conceptualization of infrastructure requires profound changes in the way we conceive, design, and implement projects to be effective at meaningful scales. The system-based complexities of NBS require broad integration, including conceptual, functional, methodological and disciplinary. This entails developing legal and governance structures that can account for dynamic change, ensuring effective citizen participation, and supporting social learning to promote the definition and pursuit of collective goals. Because sustainability and equity are interlinked and interdependent, sustainable NBS must work to address social and systemic inequities.
The introduction of natural dynamics into our conceptualization of infrastructure requires profound changes in the way we conceive, design, and implement projects to be effective at meaningful scales. The system-based complexities of NBS require broad integration, including conceptual, functional, methodological and disciplinary. This entails developing legal and governance structures that can account for dynamic change, ensuring effective citizen participation, and supporting social learning to promote the definition and pursuit of collective goals. Because sustainability and equity are interlinked and interdependent, sustainable NBS must work to address social and systemic inequities.
Publications:
Nelson, D.R., Bledsoe, B., and M Shepherd. 2020. From hubris to humility: Transcending original sin in managing hydroclimate risk management. Anthropocene. doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2020.100239.