Engineering With Nature® (EWN®) Program Support

The Challenge

The EWN® Program grew from a small initiative launched in 2010 within USACE ERDC to a fully congressionally funded and staffed Program in 2019. LimnoTech was brought in to help manage the rapid growth of the Program through organizational, programmatic, and logistical support for their research and development (R&D) and implementation support programs, as well as to provide additional insight and perspective from outside the Corps into nature-based solutions, stakeholder and partner engagement, and best practices from other areas (e.g., urban waterfront restoration, NbS tool development, etc). LimnoTech became a trusted partner, able to effectively extend the reach of EWN staff while advising and acting impartially in the best interests of the EWN Program.

The Solution & Outcome

LimnoTech’s support enabled the strategic growth and reach of the EWN Program within USACE and with USACE Partners, resulting in increased collaboration and partnerships; expanded EWN knowledge and expertise; accelerated EWN implementation capacity; enhanced engagement, communication, and tech transfer; and more opportunities for educational workshops and courses.

Highlights of LimnoTech’s programmatic support include:

🌿Provide support across the USACE Enterprise, from the EWN Program to the EWN Proving Grounds and the EWN Practice Leads. Developed the 2024-2029 Five-year EWN Strategic Plan. Reviewed, compiled, and evaluated EWN Program research and findings and communicated these with the EWN Stakeholders such as the USACE EWN Cadre and EWN Proving Grounds, Network for Engineering with Nature (N-EWN) Partners, and Congress.

🌿Collaborate with USACE Divisions and Districts and the EWN Proving Grounds, in particular, to incorporate EWN practices and research into project planning and implementation and communicate lessons learned to the EWN community. Facilitate and participate in monthly leadership calls to help strengthen links and identify challenges, opportunities, and synergies between Districts.

🌿Review, compile, and evaluate research, findings, and/or best available information from EWN projects to determine trends, themes, correlations and/or important factors within the EWN Program or EWN projects. Findings were published in reports and other exhibits that advance EWN practice and document the triple-win benefits for broader distribution to the public. These include ‘Enhancing Benefits Evaluation For Water Resources Projects Towards A More Comprehensive Approach For Nature-Based Solutions: Case Study Analysis Results And Recommendations.’

🌿Participate in collaborative workshops (N-EWN NbS Policy Forum, N-EWN National Summit, Integrating Nature into Risk Science and Insurance: A Coastal Resilience Symposium at UCSC), design charettes or small focus groups to develop EWN project ideas, designs, and renderings that help inform needed actions that improve the resiliency of communities and/or other regional assets. These covered diverse topics such as EWN for Unique Island Topography in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico; Benefits, Applications, and Opportunities of Natural Infrastructure (in collaboration with the National Academies.

🌿Develop tracking mechanisms to better understand the breadth and reach of the EWN Program across the USACE Enterprise and beyond.

🌿Support and facilitation for the N-EWN, which saw exponential growth over three years. Organize and participate in meetings and workshops such as the N-EWN Advisory Board Meeting, Partner Symposium, and NbS Policy Forum; host the N-EWN Knowledge Seminars; moderate research meetings; and assist in onboarding new partners from academia, philanthropic organizations, municipal agencies, and the private sector. Facilitate and participate in the Executive Committee meetings to set the broad strategic direction for the Network.

LimnoTech’s programmatic support and collaboration with the EWN Program and its Partners has resulted in the advancement of research, development of tools and products, and distribution of data and information on NbS to advance the practice of EWN and adoption of NbS.