A timely and interesting workshop was organised by the Flood Community of Practice of the International Water Centre in Brisbane on “The Role and Features of Nature Based Solutions” on the 23^rd August 2023. 

Water Techers, Dr Michael Cheetham and Tahlia Rossi, presented at the workshop on “Nature Based Solutions for Catchment Management.”  

What are Nature Based Solutions you may ask?    

As defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (2020), they are: 

 “Actions to protect, sustainably manage, or restore natural or modified ecosystems to address societal challenges, providing benefits to both people and the environment.” 

Other similar terms include Green Engineering, Ecosystem-Based Adaptation, Sustainable Intervention, Green Infrastructure …. and the list goes on. 

There were a range of other presentations about how to implement Nature Based Solutions and how to maintain them, and a showcase of the latest research findings in this area. 

The format of the workshop enabled some great discussions on the complexities of employing nature based solutions at scale. In addition, a clear outcome of discussions was that collaboration is needed between disciplines and industry sectors to be able to achieve some pretty ambitious, but vital, goals.  

Projects Water Technology have recently worked on were also highlighted throughout the workshop, including the Ipswich Integrated Catchment Plan, the Brisbane River Erosion Source Master Plan and Building Catchment Resilience.

With a number of Nature Based Solutions focused projects currently underway, Water Technology look forward to continuing to make a meaningful contribution in this area.

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