Using Nature to Fight Nature's Threats
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Certification Maintenance
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the threats of sea level rise and the response needed from professional planners.
- See how new nature-based ("green") adaptations can be effective in protecting both the built and natural environments from sea level rise and intensified storm damage.
- Comprehend the significant amount of work that must be done to make nature-based adaptations viable, and how planners can contribute to that effort.
More Course Details
Marin County, California, has worked to expand the tools available to defend against sea level rise, adding new nature-based "green" options to the repertoire of traditional "gray" structures.
This course examines the feasibility of constructing a resilient dune ecosystem to maintain beach access as a recreational resource for all users, to enhance existing habitats, and to provide flood and erosion protection against rising seas.
Examine regulatory, economic, and financing factors. Review progress in other green adaptation technologies, such as "living shorelines" where reefs of oysters, enhanced eelgrass beds, and other techniques reduce wave heights to limit flooding.
Marin County was among the first California local governments to commit to addressing sea level rise and maintains a leadership position. Collaboration: Sea-Level Marin Adaptation Response Team (C-SMART), a public participation-intense program, develops adaptation solutions for West Marin. Game of Floods, an award-winning hands-on adaptation simulation, became hugely successful in engaging the diversity of the county's population in preparing for coming perils.