The Network for Engineering With Nature (N-EWN), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), and the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) Center for Coastal Climate Resilience hosted a national forum focused on the practice of nature-based solutions. The two-day event was held February 4-5, 2025, at the National Academies’ Beckman Center in Irvine, California.
The forum brought together national leaders and practitioners to discuss innovations in the application of natural infrastructure for protecting communities from natural disasters and other threats. Discussions focused on overcoming challenges in scaling natural infrastructure and finding collaborative, equitable solutions. The forum followed the 2024 N-EWN National Policy Forum conducted in collaboration with the National Academies in Washington DC.
Forum objectives included:
- Showcase full-scale implementation of nature-based solutions and lessons learned
- Promote equity and justice in hazard mitigation and adaptation projects
- Identify challenges and opportunities to meet objectives for risk reduction and conservation
- Strengthen partnerships to accelerate the pace of NBS implementation
University of Georgia attendee, Todd Bridges shared some of his favorite quotes from the sessions in a recent LinkedIn post:
“Risks are rising.” Michael Beck, Director, Center for Coastal Climate Resilience, UC Santa Cruz
“You don’t beat Mother Nature. You have to work with her whenever possible.” Cynthia Larive, Chancellor of UC Santa Cruz
“Natural solutions have to be people-centered.” MariaElena De La Garza, CEO at Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County
“This is the future of the environmental market.” Chrissy Thom, Executive VP and Global Environmental Markets Director at Jacobs
“There’s no replacement for being on the land and doing the work together.” Beth Rose Middleton, Professor of Native American Studies at UC Davis
“We have a lot of latitude.” Cindy Messer, Lead Deputy Director, California Department of Water Resources
“We need to consider who gets the benefits.” Marta Vicarelli, Asst. Professor of Economics at University of Massachusetts Amherst
“Why does the Navy care about NbS? We’re stewards of the land and our missions.” Jesse Ross, Nature-Based Resilience Coordinator at the Department of Navy
“We need the right people with the right education.” Ellen Herbert, Senior Scientist at Ducks Unlimited
“Nature is not some place you visit. We are part of nature. Harmonizing our systems with the rest of nature is how we secure the future.” Todd Bridges
This event was generously sponsored by the following organizations:
- Platinum: Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at University of California, Santa Cruz
- Gold: Jacobs
- Silver: Anchor QEA, HDR Inc., Stantec
- Bronze: ECOncrete Inc., Michael Baker International, Moffatt and Nichol
View the agenda and speaker biographies:
Photo gallery:
To access video content from the event visit the National Academies webpage.
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