Defining Natural Infrastructure
Natural infrastructure (NI) uses natural processes and ecosystem services to support engineering objectives. This innovative approach to infrastructure planning has the potential to provide co-benefits to communities, ecosystems, and economies, and N-EWN partners are leading the charge on implementing NI to achieve these benefits.
Selected Publications:
Life cycle management of natural infrastructure: assessment of state of practice and current tools, Kurth et. al. 2024, Frontiers in Built Environment.
Jointly advancing infrastructure and biodiversity conservation, McKay et. al. 2023. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment.
Improving Natural Infrastructure Practice
Nature-based solutions (NbS) are a relatively new field of study and applications. N-EWN researchers are dedicated to figuring out the best way to implement NbS in engineering, environmental, and community settings.
Selected Publications:
Nature-based solutions as buffers against coastal compound flooding: Exploring potential framework for process-based modeling of hazard mitigation, Radfar et. al. 2024, Science of the Total Environment.
Evaluating thin-layer sediment placement as a tool for enhancing tidal marsh resilience: A coordinated experiment across eight US National Estuarine Research Reserves, Raposa et. al. 2023, Estuaries and Coasts.
Integrating People and Policy
We’re better together. N-EWN partners are working to make sure everyone has a seat at the table when we talk about nature-based solutions.
Infrastructure managers bear a responsibility for ensuring all members of a community are being fairly serves by infrastructure choices. To support sustainable solutions, managers need a clear and concise set of guidelines for incorporating social equity into project decision making.
Selected Publications:
Human well-being and natural infrastructure: assessing opportunities for equitable project planning and implementation, Kalaidijan et. al. 2024, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.
Operationalizing equity for integrated water resources management, Seigerman et. al. 2022, Journal of the American Water Resources Association.
Bringing People Together
Nature-based Solutions Policy & Practice Forums
These annual in-person forums have been co-hosted with partners across the country, aiming to identify the policy and practice needs of the growing field of nature-based solutions. More information about each year’s forum below:
Knowledge Series
This monthly, public-facing webinar series features topics from across the field of engineering with nature knowledge. Continuing Education Credits (1-hr) are available to all attendees who join live. More information & registration link below:
More N-EWN Events
Special Topics
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Stantec supports restoration projects through native plant nursery
N-EWN partner Stantec recently released a short video highlighting their native plant nursery, which is used in ecosystem restoration projects ranging from marshes to meadows. These plants support habitat for native species, including pollinators, and often perform better than their non-native counterparts, as they are adapted to the conditions in which they’ve been planted. Watch…
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Researcher feature: Charles Van Rees
N-EWN researcher Charles Van Rees was recently featured in an article by the Odum School of Ecology. In the article, he speaks specifically to the power of interdisciplinary research: “We sit there and try to communicate across huge differences in expertise, professional culture and vocabulary, and then we write cool interdisciplinary papers that bring all…
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New publication: Engineering coastal structures to centrally embrace biodiversity
Story by Sean Turner Image from Pexels.com Protecting ecosystems or protecting our communities is not an “either-or” scenario. Both are possible using natural infrastructure in place of and alongside gray infrastructure. Natural infrastructure is capable of protecting our coastal communities from floods as well as increasing biodiversity on our shorelines. Network for Engineering With Nature…
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Integrating Biodiversity with Water Management Engineering
Sustainable development approaches to infrastructure and water management have begun to prioritize biodiversity conservation and ecological conditions as key outcomes and objectives. Calls for including species and ecosystems in water resources decision-making come from the growing global understanding of a worldwide biodiversity crisis, marked by unprecedented losses stemming from diverse human-caused pressures. The essential connections…