The Engineering With Nature program is pleased to share the summary report for the “Collaborative Development of Natural and Nature-based Solutions for Coastal Resiliency in the Arctic and Adjacent Regions” workshop held in Reston, Virginia on October 24-25, 2023. The workshop assembled diverse international partners in a hybrid in-person and virtual setting to focus on identifying key questions related to the viability of applying Natural and Nature-based Solutions (NNBS) to solve engineering challenges in the Arctic and similar cold region locations. The report documents workshop discussions and summarizes the key needs and potential avenues for future engagement identified by speakers and workshop participants. Opportunities for future engagement discussed at the workshop centered around Pan-Arctic collaboration as well as topics of importance within the Alaskan context. In addition, the report provides an overview of workshop presentations, which covered challenges specific to permafrost coastlines, to principles and practice common in NNBS, and the importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in supporting solution identification and application in high latitude regions.
The goals of the two-day workshop were to share recent efforts implementing NNBS to mitigate coastal hazards such as flooding and erosion in northern high latitude settings and identify requirements and develop a robust program of activities to advance this work at national, regional, and local levels. Accordingly, the report shares takeaways from discussions of recent project efforts primarily in Europe and Alaska and identifies resources and events relevant to support an international community of practice and further NNBS opportunities in the Arctic and adjacent areas. Learn more about the workshop and report contributors here.
