Professor Peter Bridgewater, Chair of Landcare ACT and Adjunct Professor in Terrestrial and Marine Biodiversity Governance at the University of Canberra, presented on blue-green vs grey-black infrastructure and which is the best way forward, as part of the SMART Seminar Series on 24 November 2017. More information: http://www.uoweis.co/event/blue-green-vs-grey-black-infrastructure-which-is-best-for-c21st-survival/ Keep updated with future events: http://www.uoweis.co/tag/smart-infrastructure/

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Blue-Green vs. Grey-Black
infrastructure – which is best for
C21st survival?
Peter Bridgewater
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C21st – the era of the Anthropocene.
But what does that mean?
Relentless global change;
Probing, even exceeding, “planetary boundaries”;
Biodiversity homogenisation;
Cultural homogenisation
Hydrological changes;
Significant pollution possibilities.

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Some challenges
• Ecosystem services decrease, people’s
needs increase
• Resilience decreases, disturbances and
rapid change increase
• People have become the strongest driver
in ecosystem change
• Ecosystems are complex and our
knowledge is limited
What to do?

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"Climate [Global]change is planetary
engineering without design. These facts of
the Anthropocene are scientific, but its
shape and meaning are questions for
politics—a politics that does not yet exist."
Purdy, J. 2015. After Nature: A Politics for the Anthropocene
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So this seminar will be about the politics
and engineering we need for a soft landing
in the Anthropocene.
Specifically; how hard (black-grey) and
soft (blue/green) engineered infrastructure
can help navigate these levels of
heightened uncertainty and rapid change.

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The Three “c”s
Continuum –
from green building to functional landscapes
 Connectivity –
the means to allows energy, nutrients, water, and
living things move through urban/rural landscapes
 Conservation –
the means to allow living things to survive and
EVOLVE into the future

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black-grey or
blue/green
Infrastructure?

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Green Infrastructure is a tool for providing
ecological, economic, cultural and social benefits
through nature based solutions, typically in an
urban or peri-urban environment.

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Nature-based solutions

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Zurich Hotel green roof

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Bangkok Hotel blue roof

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Green Infrastructure is a network of semi-natural
areas, novel ecosystems and green space that
delivers ecosystem goods, services and benefits
that underpin human well-being and quality of
life.
Application of Green Infrastructure been greatest
in Europe,
North America,
Australia and
New Zealand.

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Regenerating old style GI in the
Cevennes Biosphere Reserve in
Southern France, the traditional
techniques of dry stone wall and
terraces for agriculture are
being revived, providing new
employment opportunities and
aesthetic landscape
redevelopment

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Asian countries including
China, Japan, Republic of
Korea, and Singapore
are looking to use green
infrastructure in
revitalising existing cities,
and in designing new cities
e.g. Sino-Singapore Tianjin
Eco-City, Guiyang Eco-City,
both currently under
development.

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Wet areas, including open water in green
infrastructure are sometimes
called blue infrastructure.
In any urban area the sum of
green and blue infrastructure
contributes to connectivity for
flora and fauna, and offers
linkage from urban
through peri-urban to
“rurban” space.

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Blue Infrastructure as water recycler

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Green infrastructure is relatively new concept that
needs quantitative analysis and indicators of
success.
Policy makers struggle to understand how green
infrastructure can be integrated into policy
development and implementation.
Some green infrastructure is easily quantified e.g.
ecoducts, natural water management systems, and
green roofs, tend to have clear functions and
indicators exist to assess their performance.

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Elderberry Walk in Bristol, UK, is a
good example of green
infrastructure. The green street
running through the site provides
an attractive setting, creates
habitat, and integrates sustainable
drainage features.
This example utilises the
multifunctional potential of green
infrastructure.

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The EU Biodiversity Strategy aims to
ensure that ‘by 2020, ecosystems and
their services are maintained and
enhanced by establishing green
infrastructure and restoring at least 15%
of degraded ecosystems

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Ecological engineering has been defined
as the design of ecosystems for the
mutual benefit of humans and nature.
It can serve as a bridge between
ecologists and engineers.
And is an important aspect of green
infrastructure establishment and
management.

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The fields of ecological restoration and ecological
engineering are intertwined.
An important question is whether either paradigm will
be the right approach as we enter an age of more
environmental issues now complicated by climatic
shifts, more populated and more dense urban
complexes (aka the Anthropocene)

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Ecosystem restoration was described by noted British
restoration ecologist Tony Bradshaw (1997) as
“ecological engineering of the best kind,” and this
makes a great deal of sense. The best kind of
ecosystems we can create or restore are the ones that
were there before.
Wait – but what about the Anthropocene?
Mitsch, W.J. 2014 When will ecologists learn engineering and
engineers learn ecology? Ecological Engineering 65 9–14

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Related to ecological engineering is
ecosystem restoration, which as
currently practiced is done by
practitioners with little experience in
design and by engineers who do not
appreciate the capabilities of
ecosystems to self-design.
Mitsch, W.J. 2014 When will ecologists learn engineering and
engineers learn ecology? Ecological Engineering 65 9–14

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The approach of many restorations is
restoration by committee - that results in
projects that are less successful than
anticipated or are over-designed by
engineers with unsustainable technology.
Mitsch, W.J. 2014 When will ecologists learn engineering and
engineers learn ecology? Ecological Engineering 65 9–14

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Mesopotamian Marshlands Watershed Phragmites
marshes – the return of a lost cultural landscape A

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Florida Everglades Freshwater streams and marshes -
Water quality and hydrologic improvement D+

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For ecological restoration to become more accepted
and predictable, the fields of ecological engineering
and ecosystem restoration need to be better
integrated and more transdisciplinary in universities.
Mitsch, W.J. 2014 When will ecologists learn engineering and
engineers learn ecology? Ecological Engineering 65 9–14

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Ecological engineering academic
programs controlled by engineers alone
will ultimately fail because of the lack of
ecological and biological training in
traditional engineering programs.
Mitsch, W.J. 2014 When will ecologists learn engineering and
engineers learn ecology? Ecological Engineering 65 9–14

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restoration ecology, as currently practiced and taught,
needs allow for emerging (novel) ecosystems, and not
always focus on putting things back to the way they
were. (Arcadia syndrome)

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Design and problem solving of mega-ecological
problems are needed in the fields of ecological
engineering and ecosystem ecology.
Engineers and scientists alike need to recognize the
importance of Mother Nature (self-design) and Father
Time (time as a component in ecosystem
development) in designing functional ecosystems.(the
Dr Who effect)
Mitsch, W.J. 2014 When will ecologists learn engineering and
engineers learn ecology? Ecological Engineering 65 9–14

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For wetlands, Design decisions are typically made at
the level of individual wetland projects, and
engineering solutions as well as management and
policy decisions are often based on understanding
isolated parts of the water system, such as treating
groundwater and surface water as separate
components.
But they are not separate!!
Thorslund et al. Ecological Engineering 108 (2017) 489–497

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evidence is now mounting that critical ecosystem
services emerge from the aggregated effects of
individual wetland interacting with their surrounding
landscape –
The wetlandscape,
or wetscape
Thorslund et al. Ecological Engineering 108 (2017) 489–497

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Multiple wetlands that are
hydrologically connected
within an associated larger
hydrological catchment
than that of an individual
wetland. precipitation (P),
evapotranspiration (ET),
runoff (R) and groundwater
(GW)flows

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UNESCO Biosphere Reserves have a zonation
system e.g.:
This schema can be adapted to various ecological,
socio-cultural and legal contexts
R Research station
or experimental
research site
M Monitoring
E Education/training
T Tourism
R
M
T
T
Core area(s)
Transition area
Buffer zone(s)

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Kristianstads Vattenrike Biosphere Reserve
blue– green infrastructure as a means for adaptive
co-management of complex landscapes

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Adaptive co-management
• Tailored to local conditions
• Flexible and adaptive to ecological changes –
management interventions are designed as
experiments
• Builds on collaboration between actors on
several levels – local stewards, NGOs,
governmental institutions, etc.

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Adaptive co-management in practice (eg actors involved
in the project on restoration of flooded meadows in KV)
Building communities of
practice…..
using global concepts,
implementing locally

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Landcare Australia –
good example of blue-green infrastructure
Development,
Renewal
Maintenance
Using Government convening power,
Community efforts to implement.

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BGI for Reef renewal, Tully.

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Finally, we might just let blue-green merge
with grey-black for the most effective results!
Thank you!!