Dr. Mike Beck, Director & Dr. Borja Reguero, Associate Professor, UCSC Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, Coastal Science and Policy Program, UC Santa Cruz
Coastal risks are growing from changing conditions, development, and habitat loss. Wetlands and reefs provide billions of dollars annually in benefits for flood and erosion reduction; these benefits could finance much needed restoration of these critical habitats and slow habitat destruction. There is a growing body of tools and practices that could help conserve and restore nature for people. At UCSC, our combined teams assess coastal risks, promote nature-based adaptations, and identify innovative solutions to reduce risks to people, property, and the environment. We will describe recent successes in bridging ecology, engineering, and economics to develop solutions at the intersection of science, policy, and finance. We will show some of the latest innovations, presenting examples from Santa Cruz, the Caribbean basin and globally. These include the 2- and 3-D design of reef restoration, new wetland resilience credits, policies that open funding for nature as natural infrastructure; nature-positive insurance; and the use of game-engine technology to communicate the benefits of nature and nature-based solutions.
The N-EWN Knowledge Series offers 1 Continuing Education Credit (CEC) per seminar. This Series is presented by N-EWN, Limnotech, the University of Georgia, and USACE ERDC.