In a recent literature review, IRIS affiliate Dr. Matthew Bilskie and a team of colleagues from universities around the country investigated the roadblocks and knowledge gaps in the pathway to natural infrastructure implementation.
The analysis included 141 publications on natural infrastructure for coastal flood mitigation. Most of the studies (61%) were at local scales, and took place in either the United States or the Netherlands. They also were most likely to have studied marshes (43%).
The researchers found several key takeaways:
- Research on compound flooding scenarios and natural infrastructure was lacking, with only 9% of studies touching on them, despite a pressing need to mitigate the destruction and loss of life from these events
- Additional research is needed on navigating complex environments, managing computational costs, and addressing shortages of experts and data
- Due to the complexities of working with natural infrastructure, the researchers provided a comprehensive framework for how to incorporate it into compound flood models
- They also addressed gaps in the research-to-operations pathway and discussed the intricacies of working in interdisciplinary teams
Find the full article here.