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Fact Sheet Unit 5.2

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19 views3 pages

Fact Sheet Unit 5.2

Uploaded by

nointerruption7
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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FACT SHEET - UNIT 5.

2
ENGINEERING WITH NATURE

Why should engineers be concerned about Nature-based Solutions for increasing disaster
and climate resilience and what can they do to step-up efforts?

Deltas, rivers, lakes and coastlines are home to hundreds of millions of people and support abundant and unique
nature. Wetlands and other ecosystems in these landscapes form natural buffers against impacts of sea level rise,
floods and storms, and are vital for water and food security and local livelihoods. Decision makers face the
challenge to deliver water infrastructure that protects coast, deltas, rivers and lakes, while benefiting nature and
society and increasing resilience to climate impacts. This has led to a worldwide trend to Working with Nature
instead of against it in protecting our cities, coastlines, flood plains, wetlands, and steep slopes from the impacts
of disasters and climate change.

Building with Nature, or ecological engineering, combines ecosystem restoration and engineered solutions in an
optimal mix, alongside other measures of risk reduction, including avoidance of high-risk zones, building codes,
early warning and evacuation procedures.

• Ecological engineering can be defined as “the design of sustainable ecosystems that integrate human
society with its natural environment for the benefit of both” (Mitsch, 2012).

Ecological design and engineering design principles need to be fully understood and adapted to local ecological,
socio-economic and cultural conditions. This requires ecologists, soil scientists, landscape architects, urban
planners, and technical engineers to work together to come up with designs that work for each specific context,
with a central role for local stakeholders.

• Engineering design principles: 1. requisite standard, 2. control of environmental variability, 3. reasonable


cost, 4. structural integrity, 5., reliability, 6. implementability, 7. adaptability, 8. resilience, 9. appropriate
boundary conditions and loads
• Ecological design principles: 1. continuity, 2. no direct human disturbance, 3. endogeneity, 4. population
viability, 5. opportunity for threatened species, 6. trophic web integrity, 7. opportunity for ecological
succession, 8. zone integrity, 9. characteristic of (in)organic cycles, 10. characteristic physical-chemical
water quality, 11. resilience
(Principles from Engineering: Building with Nature online course)

Local and traditional knowledge and practices need to be considered in ecological engineering designs, so
listening and involving community members, in particular women.

LEARN MORE

Dig in deeper

● Eco-DRR Source book: Chapters 11, 14, 17


● MOOC videos from Disasters and Ecosystems: Resilience in a Changing Climate

1
o Unit 13 – Ecosystems and spatial tools for disaster risk reduction
o Unit 14 – principles of spatial planning and community-based tools for Eco-DRR
o Unit 16 – Ecological engineering for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation
o Unit 19 – Approaches for operationalizing resilience

● Engineering: Building with Nature online course

References

● EcoShape (2012), Building with Nature, Thinking, acting and interacting differently
● EcoShape (2020), Building with Nature, Creating, implementing and upscaling Nature-based Solutions
● Mitsch, W.J. (2012). What is ecological engineering? Ecological Engineering, 45, 5-12.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2012.04.013

Reports

● Bowder et al. (2019) Integrating green and grey: creating next generation infrastructure
● EbA Training Manual developed from the Kune Vain Project implemented by UNEP
● FAO (1998) Watershed management field manual
● Devkota, et al. (2014) Community-based bio-engineering for eco-safe roadsides in Nepal
● WBCSD (2017) Incentives for Natural Infrastructure Review of existing policies, incentives and barriers
related to permitting, finance and insurance of natural infrastructure
● World Bank. 2017. Implementing nature-based flood protection: Principles and implementation
guidance. Washington, DC: World Bank.
● Dym, C. L., & Little, P. (2004). Engineering design: A project-based introduction. Wiley

Websites

• Ecoshape: https://www.ecoshape.org/en/
● Building with Nature Asia: www.wetlands.org/buildingwithnatureasia

Videos

● Eddlestone water project – building with nature


● The sand motor: five years of building with nature
● Building with Nature Indonesia – Securing eroding delta coastlines
● Accelerating Adaptation through Building with Nature in Indonesia
● Mangrove restoration in combination with the seawall and drainage system in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania

2
GET INVOLVED!

As an engineer or practitioner

• Contact your local government agency working on disaster and climate risk reduction, and
environmental protection and let them know about Nature-based Solutions for increasing disaster and
climate risks;
• Get involved with the environmental planning board in your community and suggest blue-green
infrastructure or complements to grey engineering projects;
• Work in a multidisciplinary team;
• Work with the local communities;
Join the International Ecological Engineering Society.

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