Barriers and Opportunities in Implementing Natural and Nature-based Features for Adaptive Coastal Resilience
Restricted (Penn State Only)
- Author:
- Russ, Chelsea
- Graduate Program:
- Landscape Architecture
- Degree:
- Master of Science
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- March 13, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Peter Stempel, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Andy Cole, Committee Member
Roxi Thoren, Program Head/Chair
Stephen Paul Mainzer, Committee Member
Trevor Birkenholtz, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Natural and Nature-Based Features
Nature-Based Solutions
Coastal Resilience
Adaptation
Climate Change
Mitigation - Abstract:
- Nature and Natural Based Features (NNBF) are increasingly seen as an alternative to purely engineered features to protect coastal areas in the face of increasing frequency and severity of storms and sea level rise while maintaining ecological function. Scholars are actively seeking to better define what constitutes an NNBF, how best to assess them, and argue for the need for interdisciplinarity of NNBF project teams to represent different views and expertise to ensure success of interventions. Critics increasingly point to the failure of NNBF to meaningfully address ecological issues due to designs that overemphasize protecting private property and coastal defense. Moreover, we observe real barriers such as the complexity of federal funding mechanisms and regulatory processes that hamper NNBF. This research thus investigates these and other aspects of utilizing NNBF for coastal protection and restoring ecological connectivity. My main objective is to explore how experts, including government officials, coastal managers, and other experts, define NNBF and their objectives, perceive the balance of their focus between protection and ecological function, and understand the current barriers they are facing in their use of these features. I employ grounded theory to assess the perceptions of barriers and challenges to implementing NNBF. Thirty semi-structured interviews were gathered through snowball sampling and conducted with experts from the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. Results reveal the interconnected nature of challenges and barriers faced in implementing coastal protection projects, such as regulatory frameworks used, funding models, needed interdisciplinarity, and understanding ecological time scales. The presence of these barriers reflects a mismatch between processes designed for the development and approval of conventional infrastructure and the evolving recognition of how humans may work more effectively with ecological systems. Emerging solutions include increased flexibility in regulatory processes, increased transparency and engagement with communities, and a commitment to interdisciplinary teams to incorporate various perspectives. I emphasize the need for continued investment in understanding the complex drivers of ecological systems and change in coastal landscapes to enhance resilience in coastal communities and ecologies.