The University of Georgia’s (UGA) Defense Community Resilience Program (DCRP) is a multidisciplinary collaborative network working directly with military installations and their surrounding communities to respond with innovative engineering-with-nature approaches to local climate driven vulnerabilities identified by installation personnel and local civilian community leaders in partnership with University of Georgia research and outreach experts.
Supported by the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering With Nature® (EWN) initiative, the DCRP is a partnership between two UGA institutes, the Carl Vinson Institute of Government and the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS). This partnership provides a proactive mechanism to strengthen military and community resilience by applying EWN principles and practices. Based at UGA in Athens, Georgia, the DCRP employs Resilience Professionals stationed in partner defense communities who serve as liaisons between the installations, the adjacent communities, and UGA’s network of researchers and technical experts from academic, government, private, and non-governmental partners. These Resilience Professionals enhance communication, planning, and collaboration between 1
installations and communities as well as connect partners to outside technical resources and capacities at UGA and elsewhere to facilitate the design and implementation of natural infrastructure projects. The breadth and depth of the assistance available is greatly enhanced through the DCRP’s close collaboration with the Network for 1
Engineering with Nature (N-EWN). Through this collaborative network, the DCRP expands opportunities to develop new natural infrastructure solutions to community or installation vulnerabilities or to incorporate natural infrastructure into existing projects. Planning support, research, data development, modeling, and other technical assistance is available in fields such as: Engineering, Community Engagement, Climatology, Ecology, Environmental Science, Economic Analysis, Survey Research, Design Assistance, and others.
The University of Georgia and the US Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering With Nature Program are founding members of N-EWN, which has grown into a nation-wide collaborative network of universities, private corporations, NGO, and local, state, and federal government agencies all working to address research and educational barriers to the widespread deployment of natural infrastructure. For more information about N-EWN please see: https://n-ewn.org/.
PARTNERS
CONVENTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
PROBLEM Climate change poses a variety of threats to military operations based on: » The nature of the mission of the specific installation » The geographic and ecological setting in which it operates » Age and design of local infrastructure systems » The interconnections the installation has with the surrounding community
Erosion
Lack of Access to the Floodplain Impaired Water Quality Lack of Biodiversity
APPROACH » Through direct engagement at the community level bringing together civilian and military personnel, this effort will provide practical resources to address local vulnerabilities through application of EWN principles and implementation of natural infrastructure projects to address Army and DOD climate resilience priorities.
NATURE-BASED INFRASTRUCTURE
OUTCOME This effort will create a collaborative network of resilience professionals, build substantive informational resources, drive practical and applied research, and spur innovative projects that can effectively and efficiently address threats across the spectrum of interconnected military and civilian interests and responsibilities.
Erosion Access to the Floodplain Improved Water Quality Biodiversity
Decrease Wildfire Risk Stability & Infiltration Native Plants & Pollinators
DEFENSE COMMUNITY RESILIENCE PROGRAM CONTACT: J. Scott Pippin, JD, CFM jspippin@uga.edu