Showcasing Engineering with Nature principles and practices in action through 62 projects from around the world, these projects demonstrate what it means to partner with nature to deliver engineering solutions with triple-win benefits.
Humanity faces many challenges in the 21st century related to supporting a population that is expected to exceed 10 billion by the end of the century. Not least, how to reduce the increasing risks posed by natural hazards and climate change. Whether we frame the future in terms of problems to resolve or opportunities to develop, nature will figure prominently in the outcomes of our pursuits. The overarching need before us is to figure out how to discover, preserve, expand and apply nature’s value.
The Engineering With Nature initiative formally began in 2010 within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The initiative, with its partners and collaborators, is committed to advancing technical practice and to creating diverse, holistic value through nature-based solutions and infrastructure. In 2018, USACE published the first volume of the Engineering With Nature Atlas. Developed to communicate the diversity of projects, contexts and organisations advancing worldwide progress in the field, it highlighted 56 projects. It promised future volumes to present new collections of projects and on 7 April 2021, USACE launched the second volume.
Volume 2 has continued the ‘seeing is believing’ approach, presenting Engineering with Nature (EWN) principles and practices in action through photographs and descriptions of 62 projects from around the world. Sharing examples of EWN practice and learning from project examples is the motivation for the EWN Atlas series. As with the first volume, the current collection of projects illustrates a diverse portfolio of circumstances, inspirations, obstacles and achievements. All of the projects in this second volume highlight the importance of collaboration to innovating and creating diversified project value (i.e. multipurpose projects). They highlight the benefits that can be produced when engineering and natural processes are successfully integrated to support navigation, flood risk management, ecosystem restoration and other infrastructure purposes.
