Workshop 7
Design Standards for Natural & Nature-Based Solutions, Part 2
About the Workshop
On May 17, 2023 the Nature-Based Exchange held its seventh workshop at Clemson Design Center in Charleston, SC. The workshop was the second of a two-part discussion on design standards. Similar to the first design standards workshop (held in March 2023), this workshop further explored the roles of practitioners and academia within the realm of natural and nature-based solutions. Three questions guided the first half of the workshop: What are we teaching? What are we doing? And how are we doing it? Through this framework, participants gained a deeper understanding of (1) what higher education is teaching today’s students, (2) what knowledge practitioners are applying in the field, the outcomes of that application, and where the challenges and opportunities lie for improvement, and (3) how we are overcoming those challenges to produce projects that have a lasting positive impact on both natural and social systems. To conclude the workshop, our featured speaker, Dr. Todd Bridges, discussed his own experiences, observations, and knowledge on the state of nature-based solutions by addressing the “big picture” questions that revolve around nature-based design (such as scale, barriers, specifications, and best practices). Through personal stories and real examples, the speakers in this last workshop of the series educated, inspired, and motivated us to action.
A big thanks to Clemson University’s Masters of Resilient Urban Design program for sponsoring the venue and breakfast and for showcasing posters from past and present student work that used nature-based solutions around our state.
Agenda
Speakers
Continuing Education Credit Information
Key Takeaways
What Are We Teaching?
Clemson University’s Master of Resilient Urban Design Program (MRUD) is one example of a graduate program created to teach students how to design, consider, and plan for nature-based solutions and resilience using a community-centered approach.
Students are being taught to consider bold new approaches to address resilience through active participation in existing issues. Ideally, student work will spark conversations and encourage action outside of the classroom.
What Are We Doing?
Plants are not being given the proper respect they deserve. Plants are highly specialized, play huge roles in maintaining and expanding biodiversity, and highly influence the success of nature-based solutions. Yet their perceived value often stops at their potential for beautification.
While common on project sites, plant substitution can result in fewer ecosystem benefits and, in some instances, harm the surrounding flora and fauna communities.
Educating people – including other designers, contractors, suppliers, property owners, municipalities, maintenance workers, and the public - on the value and role of plants in the ecosystem, as well as the importance of using native plants, is critical.
How Are We Doing It?
Project design can change throughout the development phase due to constraints such as stormwater design criteria, funding restrictions and requirements, property acquisition, permitting, and ecological engineering design. Designers must be flexible and adaptable throughout the process to produce a successful nature-based project.
For large nature-based projects it is vital that designers use a holistic approach that considers the whole system (rather than only the project area).
Featured Speaker: Todd Bridges, PhD
Thanks to engineering and construction, we have transformed our world from wild nature to conquered, controlled, and tamed nature. Yet nature is more powerful than we’d like to think, and nature will return despite our best intentions.
Nature-based solutions aim to conserve, restore, and engineer nature for the benefit of people and nature. These methods have been used for millennia and have been reinforced in modern times.
The scale at which nature-based solutions should be deployed depends on the problem that is being addressed. The design of these solutions should be fit for a specific purpose.
We need to use evidence-based science, not fairytale-based ideas, to design and implement nature-based solutions. We don’t have to build a nature-based solution to study it; we can study nature for the answers we seek.
Communities are comprised of people, nature, and built assets; all three elements must be present for a thriving community to exist. Future resilience and sustainability efforts must keep all three elements in mind as projects are sought to blend and balance nature with engineering design while benefiting people and nature.
Resources
Engineering with Nature
Presentations
Designing with Water: community-centered and nature-based designs for resilient water management in Charleston
By: B.D. Wortham-Galvin, PhD, Master of Resilient Urban Design Program, Clemson University
In her presentation, B.D. Wortham-Galvin explained what students are taught in Clemson’s Master of Resilient Urban Design Program (MRUD) by showing examples of student work and discussing the intended impact of that work. Throughout her presentation, it is evident that the MRUD Program offers students the chance to conduct relevant research and create influential designs while gaining real-world experience and practical skills. Students are taught to
study and incorporate cultural, physical, and ecological research into their design,
work collaboratively, and
constantly engage professionals and community members.
The MRUD Program strives for student work to inform and encourage community conversation around topics such as water and planning. As this program indicates, students are being taught to consider resilience and nature-based solutions in their design, planning, and decision-making.
Planting Design for Ecological Services
By: Erin Stevens, RLA, LEED AP, Surculus
In her presentation, Erin Stevens revealed the value that plants bring to a project site, a landscape, and an ecosystem. The success of small- and large-scale nature-based solutions depend on the success of plants. Yet not just any plant will do. Plants are highly specialized and are vital to the biodiversity of microbes, fungi, insects, and birds, as well as other species of plants and wildlife. The wrong plant could result in lost habitat, a lack of food, and a change in a species’ life cycle, affecting a multitude of other plants and animals. Educating people on the value that plants bring to an ecosystem and enforcing plant specifications on projects are two key ways that designers are working to enhance the success of nature-based solutions and the plant communities that support them.
Barberry Woods – Turning Nature-based Concepts into Reality
By: Marc Horstman, PE, PH, D.WRE, WK Dickson
In his presentation, Marc Horstman explored the challenges and design/development process that nature-based solutions can experience using the example of the Barberry Woods project. The project, located in Johns Island, SC, aims to address flooding in the neighborhood by slowing, storing, and slowly conveying water across the landscape while also offering environmental education and creating community connectivity. While still in development, the project has already faced numerous constraints, which have altered the final design. Studying past and current projects can offer insight and suggestions for future projects and can help practitioners better navigate the process from conception through construction and monitoring.
Engineering With Nature for a More Resilient and Sustainable Future
By: Todd Bridges, PhD, College of Engineering, University of Georgia
In the closing presentation of the day, Todd Bridges reflected on mankind’s journey to advance the built environment through construction and engineering and the resulting impacts that effort has had on nature and people today. By highlighting the extent that humans have altered the planet, as well as the resulting consequences of that alteration, it is easy to see the beauty and benefit of learning from nature. Nature-based solutions can be used across scales and landscapes to solve a variety of problems. By studying nature, supporting education and progress, sparking conversation, and encouraging new ways of thinking, we can design and build nature-based solutions that blend nature with engineering design to produce long-lasting economic, societal, and ecological benefits.