Get to know N-EWN
A community of researchers, practitioners, and educators working together to advance the practice of natural infrastructure.
We work across four main branches
In order to help facilitate the widespread adoption of natural infrastructure practices across the United States, we’ve identified four main areas that need additional work:
Developing methods and standards
New tools, techniques and guidance are needed to effectively plan, design, construct and operate natural infrastructure at different scales
Assessing benefits and costs
Natural infrastructure provides communities with a broad array of economic, environmental and social benefits. Improved approaches are needed to evaluate, quantify and forecast these benefits to support planning and decision making
Monitoring performance and outcomes
Technically sound, efficient and applicable methods are needed to track natural infrastructure performance over time, develop the evidence base for future designs, ensure compliance with policy and inform project operations and adaptive management
Integrating people and policy
Providing infrastructure that supports human wellbeing and equitably meets the needs of diverse communities requires integration of human values, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and policies with modern communication and collaboration practices
Combining a diversity of on-the-ground experience with interdisciplinary teams.
The N-EWN community is made up of over 30 partners from industry, academia and the non-profit sector.
What N-EWN’s been up to:
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Partner Takeover: Environmental Defense Fund
This week, we are featuring our next partner at Network for Engineering with Nature: Environmental Defense Fund, also known as EDF. EDF started off in 1967 as a scrappy group of scientists and a lawyer fighting to save osprey from a toxic pesticide. They successfully got the pesticide banned in the United States, catapulting the…
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Partner Takeover: Simfero
Another week, another N-EWN Partner Takeover! Howdy! Simfero is a science-based research and strategy firm operating out of the Houston, Texas region but with reach across the United States and beyond. With expertise centered around water, Simfero brings a unique blend of technical expertise, policy guidance, and stakeholder engagement to ensure thriving ecosystems and boost…
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Understanding Biofiltration Ponds
Austin, Texas’ Watershed Protection Department (WPD) is embarking on a multi-year effort to understand the performance of biofiltration ponds (a nature-based solution) across the city. Each pond is unique, influenced by factors like saturated zone thickness and soil composition. To assess their performance, WPD staff will compare influent and effluent concentrations. This ambitious study will…
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