Catalyzing Coastal Change via Competition

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Evaluate if a design competition will catalyze innovative solutions into your practice. .
• Identify green-infrastructure solutions for coastal resilience that work with natural habitats and landscapes.
• Learn how environmental-protection efforts can generate economic value by attracting public attention and increasing visitation.

MORE SESSION DETAILS

Coastal Mississippi’s beaches serve multiple objectives. Originally constructed in front of the seawall to provide added protection against storm surge, these white-sand beaches have become part of the region's identity, and a major recreational draw. Unfortunately, even as the demand for recreational uses has increased, concerns are growing about the suitability of the water for human contact. Beach closure days, particularly associated with bacterial content, pose both human health and economic risks for the counties of Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. To reclaim the integrity of its coastal waters, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) hosted the Mississippi Beach Outfalls Challenge, offering competitors a chance to redesign outdated stormwater management structures. One of the challenge winners, AllenES, a firm focused on resiliency, shoreline restoration, and sea-level rise adaptation, will join the MDEQ to talk about the need for the challenge and way its proposed solution works with coastal habitats. Representatives from the City of Ocean Springs, a local resilience leader, will speak about their own difficulties with the outfalls, the need for the challenge, and the tools this challenge provided to coastal planners working in highly vulnerable communities.