Earth Economics has been invited to join the US Army Corps of Engineer’s (USACE) Network for Engineering with Nature (N-EWN). Established in 2019, N-EWN is a nationwide interdisciplinary community of public agencies, academic institutions, private firms, and non-profit groups working together to advance the adoption of nature-based solutions.
N-EWN supports the USACE’s commitment to the Principles, Requirements, and Guidelines for Federal Investments in Water Resources, which directs how federal agencies plan and evaluate federal water resource investments. These were updated in 2024 to require agencies to maximize public benefits, including project co-benefits, such as ecosystem services.
Nature-based solutions and hybrid gray-green solutions improve societal wellbeing by delivering a broader range of benefits than built infrastructure alone, often at lower lifetime project costs. N-EWN’s vision is to create a resilient future by encouraging integration of natural and hybrid infrastructure into USACE strategy.
N-EWN goals include:
Convening diverse organizations
Advancing research and practice
Scaling nature-based solutions
Providing expertise on natural and hybrid infrastructure
Educating the next generation of practitioners
Informing policy
Earth Economics will be sharing our expertise in ecosystem services valuation. Our experience communicating the market and non-market value of nature-based solutions and hybrid infrastructure co-benefits can help to improve public and agency understanding, leading to greater adoption and implementation of sustainable nature-based solutions.
