S1 E1 – Celebrating the 10-Year Anniversary of Engineering With Nature®

Air Date: August 26, 2020

About This Episode

Painting of Horn Island
Picture of Horn Island Painted by Walter Anderson

On the 10th anniversary of the US Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) Engineering With Nature (EWN) initiative, we’re taking a look at its foundation, fundamental principles, applications to date, and its promise for the future. Dr. Todd Bridges, Senior Research Scientist in Environmental Science is our guest. Todd serves as the National Lead for EWN, which includes efforts to collaborate across USACE and with other organizations in expanding this approach to infrastructure development. EWN provides opportunities to integrate engineering and natural processes to produce outcomes that reduce demands on limited resources, minimizing negative impacts, and creating new benefits and value. Over the coming decades, trillions of dollars will be invested in infrastructure projects, and these efforts can be planned and designed using EWN to diversify and expand an array of economic, social and environmental benefits. For example, EWN offers USACE the opportunity to support navigation and flood risk infrastructure while also producing co-benefits such as habitat for wildlife, recreational sites for communities, and other benefits. Success and advancements in EWN practice have been achieved through research and development, constructing and monitoring demonstration projects, implementing and documenting full-scale projects, and continuous communication and education. Collaboration is a central theme that integrates all of these activities. In this episode, Todd provides his perspective on the EWN portfolio and future plans for the initiative.

Picture of Blue Crabs Painted by Walter Anderson

Episode Guests

Professor of Practice, Resilient and Sustainable Systems, University of Georgia

Keywords

EWN Anniversary; EWN Atlas; EWN Strategic Plan; Engineering With Nature; EWN; natural and nature-based features; NNBF; nature-based solutions; natural infrastructure; collaboration; stakeholder engagement; ecological engineering; navigation; flood risk management; ecosystem restoration; coastal resilience; community resilience; threatened and endangered species; habitat creation; wetlands creation, restoration and protection; climate change; sea level rise; extreme weather events; coastal storm risk management; CSRM; ecosystem services; dredging; beneficial use of dredged sediment; sediment placement

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