Presenters: Ashley Jones, MS (ESM, EJ); Maria Ramirez, MS (EJ); Valerie Blakely, MS (GDS, EJ); Alison Palmer, MS (SusSys), MSE

Advisor: Dr. Paul Seelbach

Location: Saugatuck, Michigan; Gary, Indiana; Bayfield, Wisconsin; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Toledo, Ohio, USA

Client: The Nature Conservancy

The Great Lakes region faces many intersecting coastal management challenges due to climate change. Conservation and restoration, especially through novel infrastructure solutions, are some avenues that will be explored as management options. With long-established industrialized shorelines dominating much of the region, finding and implementing solutions that encourage and increase the benefits of more naturalized ecosystems pose logistical, cultural, and financial challenges. Subsequently, future conservation efforts must incorporate equity and justice to collaborate effectively with communities experiencing threats from continued climate change. 

Our research explores the role of conservation organizations in overcoming such challenges by exploring different community attitudes, perspectives, and priorities related to community health and conservation, focusing on equity and natural infrastructure. We conducted interviews and observations of five coastal communities with distinct demographic traits. We found a general lack of ‘shovel ready’ projects, and many situations lacking the labor capacity to secure and utilize long-term funding effectively. We found an awareness of natural infrastructure as a coastal management strategy, but many raised concerns about the feasibility of these solutions. These are some capacity voids through which these organizations can better help coastal communities implement natural solutions and address equity concerns.