Environment and Nature-Based Solutions for Resilient Infrastructure
Natural infrastructure is the concept that the structures of our civilization rest on the great life- support systems of the planet. Engineering societies are advancing new and enlightened standards and better procurement processes to ensure that the environment is not only protected, but where necessary, restored.
Atlas is committed to the preservation of nature and the protection of biodiversity. As an organization, we ask: If we do everything else right and lose the beauty, diversity, and life of the planet, are we winning? With extinction rates rising, infrastructure must play its powerful role in making room for nature, eliminating destructive practices, restoring water systems, protecting our oceans and forests, recycling materials, preventing pollution, and implementing the principles of the circular society.
Promoting Sustainable Infrastructure
Fine work is being done to shine a light on so-called “grey- green infrastructure,” which should be the goal of any infrastructure project. Whether it is the immediate impact of a project or the long- term impact, whether it is immediately adjacent to a project or touched by its downstream effects, a new paradigm is emerging that calls for greater caution, greater respect for nature, and greater awareness of the complexity and granularity of its interplay with the built environment.
Habitat protection, carbon offsets for nature, and appropriate engineering practices can foster the conditions for a better society and a more robust biome. Atlas is in sync with and seeks to elevate the enlightened approaches of engineering societies that have deeply inculcated environmental responsibility into their plans, design, practices, and culture.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals have called for every country, company, community, and individual to protect the life of the planet. Resilient infrastructure includes adherence to these goals and an appreciation that all life, including human life, depends on the natural systems and rhythms of nature.