N-EWN has launched a variety of educational initiatives, including the development of university EWN-focused courses, curricula and certificate programs that develop integrated problem solving, social-ecological-technical systems thinking and interdisciplinary collaboration skills. 

Goals of N-EWN Education Curriculum

Competencies

  • Integrated problem-solving competency: Leaving students with the ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex resilience problems, with a focus on viable, inclusive and equitable solutions
  • Systems-thinking competency: The ability to recognize and understand relationships, analyze complex systems, to understand systems at different scales
  • Collaboration competency: Empathetic leadership, the ability to learn from others, to understand and respect the needs and perspectives of others, to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solve
  • Strategic thinking competency: The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability and resilience; Supporting a paradigm shift to promoting interdisciplinary systems education
  • Critical thinking competency: The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; The ability to reflect on one’s one values, perceptions and actions

Skills

  • Ability to leverage full array of NI options, alone or in combination with traditional project objectives
  • Full understanding of the NI design process, and ability to pass knowledge to designers, practitioners and future workforce
  • Awareness of benefits of NI and need for combination of green and gray infrastructure
  • Ability to communicate benefits of NI to both broad and specific audiences

Current Courses

ICON 8500  Nature-based infrastructure for sustainable water  management in the Anthropocene – Spring 2019 Instructors: Nate Nibbelink (Forestry & Natural Resources), Dr. Don Nelson (Anthropology), Brian Bledsoe (Engineering), Susana Ferreira (Economics)

ENGR 8900 – Nature-based Infrastructure Engineering and Design – Spring 2020 – co-taught with ERDC instructors: Todd Bridges, Tosin Sekoni, Brian McFall, Joe Gailani, Brook Herman, Candice Piercy, Safra Altman Jeff King and Kyle McKay

CVLE 8110 Environmental River Mechanics – Fall 2020 – Kyle McKay, Brian Bledsoe, Chris Haring