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:
-
Sparking nature-positive outcomes through science at Stantec
How can engineering with nature reduce risk, restore ecosystems, and deliver community value? That’s the question at the heart of Stantec’s new Sparks story: Sparking Nature-Positive Outcomes. As climate extremes, aging infrastructure, and biodiversity loss reshape the risks facing communities, nature-based solutions are becoming an increasingly important part of the answer. By combining ecological design,…
-
Stantec Delivers Engineering with Nature Across the Globe
This week, we’re highlighting our partner, Stantec, and their work in nature-based solutions (NbS). Stantec combines natural systems with engineering to help reduce risk and build resilience. Using strategies such as bioswales, wetlands, coastal restoration, and green infrastructure, NbS can help address biodiversity loss, flood and drought mitigation, water quality and scarcity while supporting carbon…
-
Biodiversity Working Group recommends eco-thoughtful planning and action for the future of nature-based solutions
Nature-based solutions (NbS) are engineering actions that address societal challenges through the creation, protection, sustainable management and/or restoration of ecosystems, benefitting both the environment and human wellbeing. One of the most frequently purported co-benefits of NbS is their ability to simultaneously benefit, and even restore, biodiversity and ecosystem health while accomplishing their infrastructure goals. However,…
Catch up with us
Join our mailing list to stay abreast of all things natural infrastructure.