Accelerating NBS Progress through N-EWN Multisectoral Collaboration

 The Network for Engineering With Nature (N-EWN), introduced in Season 1, Episode 10, is a community of researchers, practitioners, and educators who are working together to advance the practice of Engineering With Nature (EWN). In this episode we’re talking with N-EWN’s visionary leadership about what’s been accomplished and what lies ahead. Host Sarah Thorne and Todd Bridges, National Lead of the EWN Program, welcome back Brian Bledsoe, Director of the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) at the University of Georgia, and our guests, Ellen Herbert, Senior Scientist, Sustainability and Nature-Based Solutions with Ducks Unlimited, and Chris Mack, Principal, Coastal Engineering Lead and Regional Coastal Solutions Director with Stantec.    There has been a significant amount of progress with N-EWN since it was initiated in October of 2020. N-EWN currently has 30 researchers involved in its initiatives; dozens of projects underway; and many new partners, including Ducks Unlimited and Stantec. Bringing academia, government, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector into the Network has been critical to N-EWN’s success. These public-private relationships and partnerships are decreasing the lag time from R&D to practice for nature-based solutions. As Todd notes, “It’s great to see the Network expanding. It’s very encouraging and inspiring when you look at the organizations, their depth of experience, and what they bring to the game. When you combine all that with EWN, we can really make progress.”   When N-EWN was first introduced in S1 E10, Todd suggested that the objective was nothing short of a revolution, “The revolution is going quite well. We’ve expanded our communications very significantly, sharing, networking across the Corps through our EWN Practice Leads and our EWN Cadre practitioners across the country. N-EWN plays an important role in this advancement.”    Brian highlights the significant progress being made in the academic sector. “We’ve got academic partners in all the major biomes across the US. We’ve made some good progress setting up a long-term network of test beds. We hosted a National Academies workshop on infrastructure that was really inspiring. There’s a lot of synergy among the academic partners and the private-sector partners in terms of developing training and upskilling opportunities.”    Ellen adds that “Multisectoral collaboration has allowed us to have a common vocabulary across federal, state, and NGO partnerships. My grandest hope for is that we can get to a place with lots of discussion and plenty of robust science so we can really put nature-based features and natural infrastructure on the same level playing field as traditional gray infrastructure.”   Chris notes how things have changed since his early career when he was working for the Corps. “What you’ve historically studied is brick, steel—hard, rigid structures that can resist a particular force. But with the blending of the network of biologists, ecologists, and other disciplines, we’re asking, ‘Hey, did you know we can solve the same challenge using natural and nature-based solutions?’”    Todd feels that there is a growing acceptance that change is needed. “Combining the collective experience of a diverse network of committed organizations is the way we accomplish that acceleration and practice—that’s the value of N-EWN.”   For more information and resource links, please visit the EWN Podcast page on the EWN website at https://www.engineeringwithnature.org/    Related Links Todd Bridges at LinkedIn Brian Bledsoe at LinkedIn Ellen Herbert at LinkedIn Chris Mack at LinkedIn