©  Marco  Pluijm,  27/01/2017    

© 2009 Royal Boskalis Westminster NV The  issue  with  Building  with  Nature      Marco Pluijm Senior Expert Ports and Coasts About a year ago, while attending the Sustainable Ocean Summit in Singapore, when asked to draft what later became the Resilient by Nature approach, we could not foresee the response from a number of players in the industry. And actually we shouldn’t, nor really bother. Which by now in hindsight is understandable. The industry’s Building with Nature approach has proven to be a profitable business since its introduction, about 40 years ago. And also explains why Building with Nature has never seen any actual innovation since. The dredgers have become bigger and rainbowing was introduced, but that’s about it. Nothing has actually changed since we wrote the Beach Nourishment Handbook in the mid ‘80’s. Mainly because it doesn't actually solve anything. Nor being sustainable. In all honesty, essentially the main activity consists of recycling studies and sand. Every so many years, following well defined cycles. Which may have been an acceptable approach in some parts of the world over the past decades, however, with the climate changing more rapid than so far anticipated for, different and actually adequate solutions have to be provided. In order to guarantee safety against flooding and reduce climate change induced impacts in many more ways than just maintaining the position

©  Marco  Pluijm,  27/01/2017    

of the coastline. Which is where the Resilient by Nature approach comes in. Based on what can be learned from coastal systems which are facing frequent extreme weather impacts, but without too much damage or no damage at all, recovering quickly after the event. As part of the Resilient by Nature approach, a number of these systems has been analyzed and forms for instance the basis of the Resilient by Nature toolbox. Ready for implementation on places which are more vulnerable and less resilient by themselves. A significant difference with the Building with Nature approach is that Resilient by Nature requires a well established experience level and in depth knowledge about all relevant system components it is based on. And that’s where there might be another bottleneck when it comes down to implementation. When looking ta the Netherlands, all relevant experience and knowledge was available after the completion of the large Delta Works. But most of it has gone lost since, for all sorts of reasons. Which was recently acknowledged by for instance the responsible Ministry for Infrastructure and Environment / Rijkswaterstaat. The good news is that in other parts of the world people are for sure much more open minded and receptive with regard to the Resilient by Nature approach, including support from NGO’s, Universities and other institutes. Understanding that indeed Resilient by Nature really focuses on solving the problems and challenges of today and tomorrow, by implementing natural systems with proven resiliency, rather than just recycling sediment, which by definition is not sustainable at all, neither. Customers have the right to be aware, know and understand the obvious differences between Resilient by Nature and Building with Nature. In order to be able to buy into the right solution for their problems in both a sustainable and economic justifiable and affordable way. Summarizing all of the above, one should be well aware that the issue with Building with Nature is that it’ not a game changer nor a provider of a sustainable solution. Resilient by Nature is due to its unique system based holistic approach.. More about the Resilient by Nature approach can be found in an updated version of an earlier high level presentation about the subject on http://www.slideshare.net/MarcoPluijm/resilient-by-nature-update-27012017