ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Ecol. Evol.
Sec. Conservation and Restoration Ecology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fevo.2025.1608372
This article is part of the Research TopicCoastal Adaptation Through Nature: Natural and Nature-Based Features (NNBF) ResearchView all 5 articles
Application of a Nature-based Solution Adaptive Management Framework for Improving Coastal Resiliency in a Highly Urbanized Environment
Provisionally accepted
Andrew David McQueen1*
Burton Suedel1
Sara Copp Franz2
Tina Cardona2Molly McDermott2Sabrina Collins3Victor Magar2Jeffrey Herzog4- 1Environmental Laboratory, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Vicksburg, United States
- 2Ramboll Americas Engineering Solutions, Ramboll (United States), Arlington, Texas, United States
- 3US Army Corps of Engineers, Huntington District, Huntington, Indiana, United States
- 4US Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, Concord, United States
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With the simultaneous rise in coastal flooding risks projected by current climate models and the escalating demands placed on urban infrastructure by population expansion, there is an urgent need for resilient solutions to address these challenges. In response, the adoption of nature-based solutions (NbS) and natural and nature-based features (NNBF) has gained traction as promising, cost-efficient approaches to bolster coastal resilience while offering additional economic, social, and environmental benefits as compared with traditional "gray" infrastructure. While progress has been made in developing and documenting NbS and NNBF approaches for flood risk management globally, uncertainties persist regarding their practical application and effectiveness in highly urbanized coastal environments. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine the current understanding of NNBF for coastal resilience, providing insights into their potential applications and opportunities in urban coastal settings. To meet this objective, an NNBF principled approach was applied using the City of Boston coastal storm risk management study as an illustrative example. Local efforts in the Town of Revere, City of Winthrop, and East Boston, supported by collaborations with community groups and non-profits, demonstrate the effectiveness of applying the initial phases of the framework to aid in identifying NNBF options.This study provides valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities of incorporating innovative NbS and NNBF approaches for flooding risks in coastal urban regions.
Keywords: Natural and Nature-Based Features (NNBF), Urban coast, Engineering With Nature, Flood risk, Coastal Storm Risk Management
Received: 08 Apr 2025; Accepted: 06 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 McQueen, Suedel, Copp Franz, Cardona, McDermott, Collins, Magar and Herzog. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Andrew David McQueen, Environmental Laboratory, Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Vicksburg, United States
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