Kevin P. Smith

February 2, 2022

Is 2022 the year nature-based solutions finally become the norm?

Biodiversity loss is one of humanity’s top three threats. Could nature-based solutions be the answer? An oyster regeneration project in Staten Island and a ‘rain garden’ in Copenhagen hold some answers.

Spliced image of water lilies and a stream
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Last year’s global UN climate summit, COP26, dedicated an entire day to nature-based solutions. It was compelling evidence that nature-based solutions are increasingly seen as central to the twin problems of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Nature-based solutions are defined as “actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.” They have become a hot topic.
In addition to typically being cheaper than traditional ‘grey’ infrastructure, nature-based solutions offer other benefits like economic growth, green jobs, resiliency against natural disasters, increased property values, and better public health.
This begs the question: Why aren’t nature-based solutions the norm everywhere?
Nature-based resilience at any scale
Part of the answer is a lack of awareness about the effectiveness of nature-based solutions and status quo bias among decision-makers, as one literature review suggested.
Nature-based solutions can be applied to both new and retrofit projects, and at different scales—from neighbourhood and site-scale to watershed-, landscape-, or coastal-scale. But doing so is not always obvious or easy. The scale and complexity of a project increases the number of technical and non-technical elements to work with and to understand how those elements intertwine.
To help make nature-based solutions the obvious choice in infrastructure projects, Ramboll, as part of the RECONECT Consortium, is not only helping develop the overall direction and standardised approach to planning, design, implementing, and operating nature-based solutions, but also applying them today. See some inspirational sample projects below:
Spliced image of living breakwaters and oysters
Living Breakwaters Project on the coast of Staten Island
Nature-based solution in New York City
Ramboll leads construction management on the Living Breakwaters Project, which aims to prepare the coastline along the South Shore of Staten Island for climate change by recreating oyster habitats with breakwaters.
The nature-based twist: these breakwaters are designed with an outer layer of ecologically enhanced concrete armour units. This design enhances marine fauna and flora, improves water quality, and restores habitats for marine species, including once native oysters that have disappeared due to environmental degradation. Oysters filter water and increase water quality, while holding the breakwaters in place. The 700-metre system is also designed to combat erosion and protect the shoreline.
"Green infrastructure projects are more effective and typically cheaper to construct than traditional grey infrastructure projects, so it is just a matter of time before they become the norm,” says Kevin Smith, senior construction manager for the Living Breakwaters project in New York.

“By the end of the decade we will start seeing many more projects like this one come to fruition. The benefits of a project like this will speak for themselves and certainly inspire other local governments to engage in similar nature-based solutions."

Kevin Smith
Senior construction manager
Spliced image of hoje taastrup and skate park
Høje Taastrup C, Denmark
Rethinking resilience and liveability near Copenhagen
As the main engineer consultant, Ramboll is responsible for planning and implementing a visionary transformation of Høje Taastrup, a municipality in Denmark’s capital region. The goal is to make the area more attractive, liveable, and increase climate resilience.
The nature-based twist: the rainwater drainage system for the area is disguised as the world’s longest skatepark including beautiful recreation spaces. Rainwater will travel through ‘rain gardens’ down to the park area and on to an open rainwater pond. An irrigation system will use that collected rainwater to irrigate a park. During heavy rain, excess rainwater will be led from the rainwater pond to the skatepark that also serves as a detention pond for future community water management.
Want to learn more about working with natural resources to create resilient and liveable communities? Learn the latest nature-based solution insights in this report.

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  • Kevin P. Smith

    Project Manager

    +1 347-604-2439