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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Christine Angelini featured in NPR interview: Sea otters are making a comeback in California – and they’re curbing erosion
Sea otters in California have undergone a “stunning comeback” in population numbers since their near-extinction in the mid-20th century. These coastal mammals are famously adorable, but did you know they’re also good for ecosystem infrastructure? In a new story from NPR, University of Florida coastal ecologist Christine Angelini spoke about a restoration project in Monterey…
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Partners featured in Washington Post: Natural infrastructure for rising seas
At Eagles Island in Wilmington, North Carolina, floats the historic Battleship North Carolina: a World War II museum right on the water. But as climate change causes sea levels to rise, this popular visitors’ spot could be at risk due to increasingly high tidal flooding. While multiple design and engineering firms suggested building walls around…
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New Season of The Engineering With Nature Podcast Begins
The seventh season of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Podcast started last week, featuring Ricardo Aguirre, Director of Land Management and Water Security for WEST Consultants (WEST) in Arizona and Executive Director of the Drylands Alliance for Addressing Water Needs (DAAWN). Aguirre joins co-hosts Sarah Thorne and Jeff King (National Lead of the EWN Program)…
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