Designing Better Shorelines—with Nature - 1.0 PDH (LA CES/HSW)

Sponsored by The New York Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)

This webinar is free to all. 

When we design with nature, we help communities become more resilient to climate change. Living Breakwaters and the Tottenville Shoreline Protection Project in Staten Island, New York City, demonstrate how coastal communities can adapt to rising seas and increasingly intense storms. These innovative projects, led by landscape architects, work in tandem to reduce wave action and beach erosion, create wildlife habitat, and enhance public recreation.

The built environment not only includes buildings and concrete infrastructure, but also landscapes, which are increasingly critical for adapting to climate change. Landscape architects are responsible for planning and designing these nature-based solutions that bring maximum benefits to communities.

This dynamic panel with three leading NYC landscape architects will examine two projects that grew out of New York City’s response to Superstorm Sandy, which struck in October 2012. The storm was a wakeup call for the city to better prepare for the impacts of climate change. Sandy’s impact is understood to have been intensified by climate change -- higher ocean temperatures and sea levels may have contributed to the heavy rainfall and the stronger storm surge, which inundated parts of Staten Island and led to the death of several residents and billions of dollars in damage.

In Staten Island, Living Breakwaters is currently being constructed in the Raritan Bay. The Tottenville Shoreline Protection Project will be built on the shore itself. The landscape architects leading these projects will explain why we need to re-imagine our coastlines for climate change and future superstorms and how to do it.

Learning objectives:

• Learn the importance of community involvement in resilience design decisions.
• Understand how working with natural systems can provide multiple benefits in design, resilience, and habitat restoration.
• Explore how a variety of landscape and engineering design solutions can work together to help communities adapt to the effects of climate change.