
Accelerating Natural Infrastructure Adoption with the Walton Family Foundation
The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) was awarded $1.4 million by the Walton Family Foundation (WFF) to accelerate work in the natural infrastructure sector over the next two years. The funding will help IRIS continue to build a world class educational program and launch a practitioner’s network, which will ultimately build capacity in the workforce and allow for innovative approaches to building resilient communities.
Objectives include:
1
Training
Develop a training program for graduate students and practitioners focused on community engaged natural infrastructure and nature-based solutions.
2
Investigating
Conduct case studies to build evidence base for the multiple benefits of natural infrastructure to guide decision-making.
3
Experiencing
Embed students and practitioners in real-world natural infrastructure projects.
4
Building
Build a community of practice (peer-learning forum, shared knowledge) with natural infrastructure resilience liaisons embedded in communities, institutions and agencies to advance natural infrastructure.
Collaborations
Collaborations with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineer Research Development Center and the Network for Engineering With Nature will facilitate coordination on a broad scale.


About the Walton Family Foundation:
The Walton Family Foundation is a philanthropic organization whose stated mission is to, “Tackle tough social and environmental problems with urgency and a long-term approach to create access to opportunity for people and communities.” They focus specifically on the world’s rivers and oceans and the communities that live near them, particularly in the organization’s home region, the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta.