Water for Planet: Nature-based Solutions to Protect Aquatic Ecosystems

Hi everyone, welcome. We still have quite a few people filtering in from the waiting room, so I'll just give us a few more seconds before we begin. Okay, I think we're ready to get started. Uh, it's so great to have you all here with us today um on a beautiful Friday. Um, so welcome to part three of this webinar series in preparation for the UN water conference of 2026. Today we're going to be focusing on the theme water for planet and specifically we've decided to take a focus on nature-based solutions to protect aquatic ecosystems. I am Emily Croft from the International Institute for Sustainable Development and me and my colleagues will be your hosts for today. Just a few housekeeping notes before we get started. First of all, we are recording. Um, just to let you all know, we have three incredible speakers with us today, but we will be saving questions for the end. We will have a panelist Q&A at the end of our session. So, if you think of a question that you would like to ask, please put it into the Q&A box function. You're welcome to use the chat to give greetings or share where you're from, but for the Q&A session, we will only be drawing on questions from the Q&A box. Uh we also should let you know that we will not be doing the hand raise function um for Q&A during this webinar. So again, don't do a hand raise, just send us your question in the Q&A and we will address as many as we can. So with that being said, I think we should jump right in. I would like to begin today with a land acknowledgement. For those of you who aren't familiar with what this practice is, for some of us who live on lands that were historically colonized, we like to acknowledge the original stewards and owners of the land that we are on. So for me, I am located in Treaty1 territory in Canada. That means the area where we would find modern-day Winnipeg. ISD's headquarters are situated in Winnipeg on Treaty1 territory. And these are the ancestral lands of the Anachinab, Inu, Aninu, D, and Dakota nations as well as the homeland of the Red River Matey Nation. If anyone else besides me is located on historically colonized lands, I would definitely encourage you also to find out whose original land you are on. I would also like to take a quick moment to introduce the organization I'm joining from, the International Institute for Sustainable Development. We are an independent policy think tank working on sustainable development issues and we're work towards our vision which is a world where people and planet thrive. Our mission is to solve today's greatest sustainable development challenges through trusted research advice and collaboration. We transform bold ideas into real world change that leaves no one behind. For us that involves a few different types of work. Our first and biggest area of work is in research and knowledge sharing. We have an incredible team of experts both on our water team as well as on our other teams which include energy resilience uh international environmental governance and some flagship initiatives which are working on expert level research on all different areas of sustainable development to help better inform policy. We also engage in advice. So sometimes we work closely with policy makers to give advice about how to improve sustainable development initiatives. We also love engaging and influence which is what we're doing today engaging with all of you to talk about one of our favorite topics water for planet. And finally we sometimes do implementation projects. And you'll actually be able to hear a bit about some of that today from our first speaker. Um, so maybe I'll hold off on explaining that myself. What brings us to you today in particular is a specific project of ours called the news initiative. That's an acronym standing for natural infrastructure for water solutions. For the news initiative, we are looking at natural infrastructure becoming mainstream or as we sometimes say it taking it from novel to normal. We are doing lots of research on this topic including reports on policy, finance, and on the ground solutions, which again you'll be hearing a bit about today. But on top of just publishing reports, we have also held some really excellent connecting sessions with experts and implementers from all across our region to work and find scaling solutions together. We just recently had one this past spring that was a great success. And finally, informing. It's great to do new research on natural infrastructure, but it's no good if you don't share it with others. So, we prioritize conferences, presentations, media, and more so that we can share with everyone all of the benefits that natural infrastructure can have for water systems. [gasps] Now, that's enough about us, but before we dive in with our speakers, I should probably clarify what we mean by natural infrastructure because it's a new concept for many people. Basically, natural infrastructure is a spectrum and it includes things from conserving existing ecosystems for all of their natural benefits to restoring ecosystems that were previously degraded to even constructing assets like a green roof, for example. But what all of them have in common is using natural assets to benefit some infrastructure purpose. It's very closely linked to the concept of nature-based solutions, if you're familiar, and that we're trying to find infrastructure solutions that really depend on nature and all of its wisdom. We at ISD don't necessarily view natural infrastructure as replacing traditional gray concrete infrastructure, but often as something that they can both work together to strengthen each other. So, I hope that sets the stage for our three speakers that we'll be hearing from today. [snorts] And with that, I think you've heard enough from me. And we will go ahead and hear from our first speaker um who is Deine Gloria Tui Kund um from the IWA Rwanda YWP chapter. Deine, the floor is yours. Thanks Emily. Thanks uh for the background and the introduction. Yeah, as you said, I'm divine gloria to Yukundi and I'm joining and presenting from Randa Kali and uh I work with Randa Young water professional the a chapter of the international water association and uh yeah and today I'll be presenting to you uh the the one of the projects we are currently implementing which is called Sankasa and I think I can start share with you and yeah [sighs] thanks. Uh as I was saying the project is called Sankasa and this is this stand this is a a short name for a long uh long words. So this and uh from myself I read divine gloria to yukund from the rand water professional and sankasa this this is actually in full names or in full words is scaling natur urban naturebased solutions for climate adaptation in subsaharan Africa. This is uh lead by the international institute for sustainable development uh together with the world resources institute and this founded by the global affairs Canada. Uh the project sankasa is implemented if in three cities the diridawa in Ethiopia kali randa here and dro in South Africa which are all the three cities in all all these are in subsahara of Africa. Uh Jin just a second. Can you Yes. Your presentation sharing now because it has stopped. >> Yes. Now, now it is if you can go back to the first slide. >> Yeah, the first slide. Yeah. >> Yes. Thank you very much. >> Okay. Thank you. Uh I was saying about the project. This is like a cute picture from us the young people implementing the project and uh we are working with different partners. uh but the project is led by the international institute for sustainable development the world resources institute and us the local partners among others because it's not just us and it's founded by the global affairs Canada the government of Canada and um and is being implemented in three countries here in subsahara and Africa which are Ethiopia Randa and Droa in South Africa in the three cities Dirawa and Kegali and Drobe. So the project actually started in 2024 and it's supposed to end this year 2026 and here in RA it will be imple it's it's being implemented in the three districts of the city like the whole city by different uh partners. uh but as nature solutions that we are implementing we have agroforestry activities or interventions forestation reforestation and buffer res restoration or gi protection and urban tree planting these urban trees they are the the trees that we plant along the road mainly in the cuz this is a project implemented in urban cities. So um basically the project came after analyzing that a lot of money is getting uh lost or with due to the flats that are that are occurring in the city where we are according to the minofin which is the ministry of finance here in Randa estimated that around 193 million USD are getting lost in flats which which is approximately 4% of the national GDP which is a huge loss loss So the Sakasa came as a solution to just not only Kgali but also the three uh the two other cities but mainly the project was for climate adaptation and reducing the increasing the resilience of the people of the people living in those uh urban cities. So for instance restoring the rivers and wetlands here in Kegali if we we we did an uh a model during this project where we we used invest modeling and we uh we we found that at uh there will be an increase of 30 31% of carbon storage across the restored landscapes because we are restoring a lot of uh areas in the city and also 17% of of the habitat quality will be improved compared to the one that we have before the project as well as the storm water that we was getting lost is going to be retained by the landscapes which will be restored and uh also we as young water professionals we also analyze the flood risk that the project will be reducing and we found that 18% of peak discharge which is from 100 year flood event. If we we we took one um subcatchment because we took like four model subcatchments to assess the impact of those nature based solutions that we have proposing and 18% was reduced which is quite a a a nice number as reduction and going on the way that the project is implemented we are working with different uh this is a a project is being implemented by to start with the communities it is being implemented by the communities is not just the partners implementing partners but as well the main focus is the community and uh to implement them we involve or engage people from the community where more than 10,000 people were engaged and uh we work with local local leaders cuz here in Rwanda or basically in Africa if I may say most the local community listen more to the local people the local village that they people that they trust. So we work closely with them especially in the regarding the sustainability of the project and we also uh developed 17 schools where we call them green city clubs in schools where we met students from the primary students primary school where we mentor them the importance of nature based solutions espec especially the trees to understand that the tree is uh the the future. If you need you need we we need to take care of our trees so that we know our water or our environment is well um kept and also during those those in those schools we planted 3,000 more than 3,000 school trees in the in the in the schools where these trees are basically planted by the students themselves. We're just there to teach them how to do and then those trees they will be named each tree is named by a a student who who own it's as like their custodians of the or the guardian angel of those trees. Uh the approach that we are using as young water professional is we are working with with already existing platforms from the from the local uh where the people communicate and to make the people understand the importance of those nature based solutions or how restoration needs to be done from the community not by the the policy makers or any other or development partners. So we have different platforms where for instance one we call um Uanda. This is a monthly national community work here in Rwanda which is done every last Saturday of the of the month. It's done every month and people do plan something and they do it together but they have time even to listen to talk together and um this is a platform where we use or even go to work in those naturebased solutions or restoration activities. We also use in this is community assemblies where the the people meet twice a month in the evening and they discuss the problems that are in the community. We also engage with the village as I said we also talk uh with the youth volunteers. These are groups of the young people which are formed at village level and we work with them, train them, give them capacity building regarding the maintenance of the trees, the the species of the trees, how they affect the the the ecosystem and also where we work as young people. We lead but not just the support we are there. We also were implementing and we map our own watershed because we now we are the the young people that are living in the in those legions or regions or understand better the the sol the problems that are in our communities. So we are mapping our own water sheds and act. So we also not only working on ground we also push the naturebased solutions in the local polit policies where we talk with the people from the government to advocate for naturebased solutions alongside the rent infrastructure and uh this is not just done by sorry by g just the community. We understand that we we need the gender equality and social inclusion where we we understand the pro the importance of bringing in everyone leaving no no one behind and social inclusion show is the key to the success of the project. So uh I had a small um video to show you like of the as I as I told you there is um a pro this project is being implemented in three countries here in in Rwanda Kegali but also in South Africa and Drobach. So I prepared a small we have a video where which shows what's being done in South Africa and drawback. The audio the audio is not showing. Can you stop sharing and reshare your screen? But remember to click in the audio sharing so we can hear uh the audio from the video. >> Okay. So I stopped. I think I stopped right. >> Yes, you stop it. >> Uhhuh. And then I share again. Okay, sorry. Hang on. >> Ecological risk category. [music] >> And so what we're trying to do is the Yukkeay River over here. So we have mercury toxic in very very small quantities. >> This has become a bit of a sewer because we've got sewers flooding in. We've got a lot of industrial contamination as well. >> We have historical gold mining that occurred here. So we have mercury toxic in very very small quantities, lead, arsenic, cadmium. Those heavy metals cause the Yukkeay River over here to be classed as the most severe ecological risk category. And so what we're trying to do with this system is to demonstrate how natural processes can be used without energy, without lots of mechanical components to treat water so it can be used for non-potable reuse. So this is our eco filter system and the way it works is these are essentially miniature wetlands contained in these tanks. These plants are growing hydroponically. They're in these different tank systems. Every one of these tanks does a different job. The water goes through a variation of of um planted filters, gravel filters, an eb and flow wetland and these floating aquatic cells um where you get bofilm growth which is it's it's the bacteria and the macro invertebrates and the micro invertebrates that are all doing all the hard work like kind of eating the sludge as it were. This one is recirculating. So we can actually study the water as it's recirculating through the system. And the other one is a complete flow through system. So we can monitor different things. So the water comes in through the top tanks. It settles down and lets the sludge and the sediment kind of settle out. It moves through these series of of wetland tanks. [music] Where [music] the eco filter is situated is actually in a community garden site. And this community garden is helping to provide food. It's helped to provide opportunity. It's a women led cooperative. [music] >> We came up with the plan of building the ecosystem to >> TV. You are muted. Muted. Devin, you're still muted. >> Sorry. >> No. Yeah. Now, now it's working. >> Yeah. I was saying I was saying this maybe this is a long video. Maybe if you are interested, I can share in the chat the the the video and you can go. But this is the project that they're doing in South Africa where they're trying to to use nature based solutions to clean their their rivers a river which is super uh deteriorated if I may say or polluted and uh it's kind the the water that they're treating they're using it for for irrigating the farmers uh crops and this is getting this is like a a pilot project but it's functioning and maybe in the future it's going to be upscaled to another level. Yeah, that was my presentation. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you so much, Devin, for the great presentation. Our next speaker is Kadisha Austinine from WCS. Cadisha, it's all yours. Good morning everyone. >> Okay. Can you confirm if you're seeing my screen? >> Yes, we can see you. >> Excellent. Thank you. I'm Kadisha Augustus from the Wildlife Conservation Society. I'll be providing a brief overview as it pertains to some of the activities that we completed under the climate adaptation and protected areas initiative that was funded by IISD Canada and Global Affairs Canada through the climate adaptation and protected areas initiative respective to our marine component of the BISE program. Um the initiative focused on building resilience of coastal and marine ecosystems through the design and implementation of nature-based solutions. So respective to bise our activity focused on two marine protected areas which included the glover's re marine reserve and the saw water key marine reserve. Our target stakeholders focused on users of both marine reserve and also included maybe the individual fisher as well as the household and extended family. So not only focus on one individual but the extended family could have been spouse, children and other related family members. Persons who utilize the marine reserve for commercial fishing purposes and also the Jesse consideration was ensured through the implementation of this project. Respective to our target stakeholders and beneficiaries, we focused on seven coastal communities in BISE. We had Sertinha village, Biz City, Dangreatang, Hopkins, Riverdale, Site and Placencia. Now, traditionally these seven communities have a high percentage of fishers who utilize these marine reserve for commercial fishing purposes. The first activity focused on the treatment and monitoring of stony cororal tissue disease. Um this implementation was led by our marine technical assistant. So he was the one who did the implementation of this activity and respective to the treatment of and monitoring of stony cororal tissue loss disease. It was to identify the effectiveness of an experimental treatment to assess how it would be beneficial to the coral colonies in the Glover's reef marine landscape. notably is that stony coral tissue loss disease is a prevalent issue in our coral reef system here in Bise. Um so the treatment was done with 211 coral colonies which were monitored and tagged on a regular basis. Um and it was done between a 15-month period starting in 2023 of March and ending in 2024. Um the treatment was done to identify the live tissue cover the coral bleaching as well as the progression of the coral disease. Um for this respective site this coral here you can see the decline as it pertains to the to the coral itself though the treatment was given. Um so from June 2023 we see here in April 2024 that eventually the coral you know it didn't receive the treatment as effective as others and following the monitoring of the stony coral tissue it was identified that 71% of the coral survive and also is that it assisted us in identifying future reef management for the restoration. ation for our restoration efforts. Notably is that many of the corals did contract black band disease during the monitoring and treatment period and died off as a result. So the second activity under the Kappa initiative was the establishment of financial protection for both the Glover's reef as well as the saltwater team marine reserve [screaming] and one was the establishment of an early reef brigade established one one was the establishment of our reef brigade whereby we had 19 individuals treated in emergency mergency response to reef protection as well. [screaming] Excuse me. Um we had 19 persons treated in rapid response and emergency reef restoration activities. Um for this specific activities, we had a rapid reef response protocol that was established and hence the reason why the reef brigade was established under this protocol. Persons from both Glovers and Saltwater Key Marine Reserve were treat were trained as it pertains to Reef Brigade and to assess coral reef damage, storm brigade, sedimentation, storm debris, sedimentation and other reef disturbances following a storm activity or any other tropical activity for that matter. Notably during the implementation of this activity, no reef, no tropical storm or climate activity was or did occur for the reef to res for the reef brigade to respond. Additionally was the implementation of a parametric reef insurance that was done for blow glovers and saltwater key marine reserve under the kappa initiative. respective to the parametric insurance. Um appeal would have been given to the institution once a tropical storm hit and um support was necessary in that case just as the rapid response and an emergency reef brigade. No storm occurred during the implementation of this activity and the copper. Um so no payout was made and under this activity as well we also had some of the trainers who trainees who participated in the reef brigade train subsequent individuals within ptoas Mexico. And the final activity under the kappa initiative was was the supplementary livelihoods initiative. And this with this initiative we identified suitable, sustainable and viable supplementary livelihood initiative for persons to partake in. As I mentioned before, our stakeholders included persons or fishers, family members of fishers who utilize Glover's Reef and Marine Reserve for economic support. So thereby their livelihood heavily depend on on extractive um activity in order to sustain self and family. So the idea of the supplementary livelihood initiative was for us to train individuals in activities that they identified so they could have diversified their income and lessen dependence on the marine ecosystem. So under this activity we had an audit report which reviewed some of the supplementary reliablehood activities that were implemented in biz for the past 10 years. After that audit report was completed we did prioritization and value chains analysis of um the identified supplementary livelihood activities and these prioritization and analysis factors or thematic areas included gender. It included environmental um stability support. It included enabling factors as well as other thematic areas to support the the implementation of a viable activity under the supplementary livelihood initiative. And there were several interventions that were that were identified by the community members and therefore implemented. We had the seaweed farming and subsequent value added products of seaweed. We have um skills training with a focus on coastal and marine tourism. So that included tour guide training for some participants. It included um coxway boat handling training, sewing and crafting for those who were interested. And lastly was the financial literacy component. Many of the individuals with whom we engage, they noted that do though do though do though do though do though do though do though they do have the understanding of money management they would want to have better understanding as it pertains to how to handle their money in a in an efficient manner considering that it wasn't something that they were formally trained in and those were the activities under the kappa initiative that focused on nature-based solutions here in Bise. Um, thank you. >> Thank you so much, Kadisha. That was a wonderful presentation. We have one speaker left today. But before I pass on the mic, just a reminder to everyone in our audience, our Q&A box is looking a little empty. So, I'm seeing some questions coming up in the chat, but please do post them in the Q&A so that we can answer them live. Otherwise, we'll just end up with a pretty boring Q&A session. None of us want that. Um, so with that reminder, I will pass on to our third and final speaker, Angela Stigler. The floor is yours. >> Apologies for that little delay. Can you see my screen? Okay. >> Yes. >> Awesome. Um, well, I'm excited to be presenting today. Again, my name is Angela Stigler. I am a principal scientist at Hazen and Sawyer, which is an engineering consulting firm. Uh, we plan, design, and construct water infrastructure projects. Um, and I'm based in Raleigh, North Carolina in the United States. Um, so with that, I would like to share with you um, some emerging work on multibet treatment wetlands in particular. And before I dive into treatment wetlands, I just want to acknowledge uh the growing challenges we face with a changing climate. Uh flooding, droughts, water quality challenges are becoming the new norm. Um and as we think about how the climate is changing, we need to think about implementing new and different types of solutions. So in response to this changing climate, I want to share that there's really a shift happening in how we think about designing and building uh water infrastructure. We're shifting away from purely consumptive systems where water flows into and out of cities in linear ways towards regenerative water systems where we we recycle waste water as a resource and tap storm water flows um as well. Now this the image on the left showing a consumptive system was really important and is really important for supplying water and minimizing harm to the environment. But critically it relied upon stationerity as the basis of design that the conditions of the past would be the same into the future. And as our climate is changing, our approach uh should probably shift a bit to improve our resilience to that changing climate and maximize benefits from our infrastructure solutions. So what does that set of solutions look like? Um this regenerative water future includes both conventional and nature-based solutions. This includes things like uh water reuse systems or recycling, drainage systems to improve conveyance of storm water flows away from critical infrastructure, treatment plant improvements. Um but it also includes urban greening and multibet park systems, uh flood resilience projects, and I'll argue here, uh treatment wetlands as well. So treatment wetlands have been around for quite a long time and we've learned a lot about how to design, build, and operate these types of systems. A few examples are shown here. Again, sharing some case studies from the United States. Uh there's storm water treatment wetlands that help manage high flows of storm water in New York City. Uh surface flow constructed wetlands like those in Georgia, which actually enable water reuse in a way. and then subsurface flow systems where water flows underground to provide treatment. But these um are are kind of like the initial ideas on treatment wetlands. But what what can we think about in terms of treatment wetlands that actually maximize benefits for people and nature? Um, this includes thinking about systems that don't just polish or treat our water, but they might also help us attenuate sea level rise, uh, provide some public amenities, recreational benefits, or even uh, food. Uh, expanding water supplies by polishing wastewater, for example, or creating new habitats uh, that might otherwise be lost in our changing climate. Uh so thinking about what these systems could look like, I'd like to share uh one particular case study on horizontal levies. These are essentially a um alternative to conventional storm water uh control levies and armored rip wrap shoreline shown on the left. So a horizontal levey instead is a gradually sloped wetland that's built along existing storm control levies. Its surface is planted with native vegetation and underground there's a water treatment layer that can provide additional water quality benefits. This type of solution on the right you can imagine provides ecosystem services that the conventional approach on the left can't like habitat for native species uh adapting to climate change as the native vegetation tamps down on wave action with increasing intensity of storms and also of course improving water quality. Now this is a nice concept diagram I've shared here. Uh but this concept is being brought to reality um out in the San Francisco Bay area where I did my graduate work at UC Berkeley. So you can see our experimental system that we built shown here in the process flow diagram for the wastewater plant that we worked at. Um and this system to give you a sense is about 7,000 square meters in size or 1.5 acres. Um, it's located in the San Francisco Bay area and we built this experimental system to to really test the water quality performance of this subsurface flow treatment wetland. Um, you can see our different experimental treatments shown here. Uh, this water flows through the system. And before I share with you a bit about how this system performed in terms of water quality, I'd like to highlight that this work was really um a collaborative effort among nonprofits locally uh cities um uh water utilities as well as academia and science organizations in order to learn in real time so that we can implement effective nature-based solutions. Um, so what did we see when we uh did this experiment? I'll share a few key results here, but there's a lot more that you can find on my Google Scholar page or in the scientific literature where we publish the results. Um, but the key take-home is that these horizontal levies could provide reliable water quality improvement. uh we conducted experiments with both treated wastewater and RORO concentrate which is a byproduct from water reuse projects and this treatment was compatible with habitat quality and resilience goals. So we didn't need to sacrifice um habitat quality you can see our wetland on the right uh to achieve that water quality performance that we um needed. So, as we think about implementing horizontal levies and nature-based solutions, there's of course some local and regional considerations. One is that sea level rise threatens a number of wastewater plants in the San Francisco Bay area and globally. Um, but not all wastewater plants are suitable for this kind of approach. So there's been some momentum locally to look at each uh wastewater plant and determine their relative suitability um as an adaptation strategy. Some challenges and opportunities for these types of multib projects include um a big challenge which is coordination across multiple stakeholders um which prevents uh and presents some challenges for timely implementation. We know climate change is here and we need solutions to adapt. Um but building these kinds of nature-based approaches um can take a significant amount of time compared to some more conventional approaches. But there is some good news locally here. Um the region has actually authorized some public funds for restoration projects through a measure called measure AA which provides funding for nature-based projects. So, as the community rallies around uh these types of systems, um we have some opportunities to address those challenges and implement great solutions. Um so, with that, I want to return just for a moment to this vision of our shift from consumptive to regenerative water infrastructure. And hopefully I've shared with you at least one example about multibet treatment wetlands. And perhaps you think now that that those types of systems can play a role in this future um that we are all designing for. So with that I will end and thank you so much for the time. Thank you so much Angela. That was wonderful. We now have time for some Q&A with all of our panelists. So I can ask um Angela, Kadisha, and Deine if you could give us your camera and mic and an uh there we go. So let's get all of our speakers back on video. >> And thank you so much to our audience. Now we have lots of questions in the Q&A. Um so we'll have lots to talk about for the next 15 minutes or so. But I'd like to start off with a question that's really for all of you. All of you are doing such incredible work on nature-based solutions for aquatic ecosystems, but in very different geographic regions. So, I'd like to ask each of you to answer in the geographic region where you work, what is support like for these types of nature-based solutions? And maybe I'll start us off with Angela. >> Sure. Um, what is support like for nature-based solutions? Well, I would say there's there's a decent amount of momentum at uh like federal and state levels in in my region for implementing nature-based solutions. But one of the the challenges but is also an opportunity I guess in a way is that um folks have lots of projects that they want to implement including conventional. And so having nature-based approaches kind of line up in the priority mix um is is something to consider. Um but folks are are starting to do it and and trying to prioritize that as multiple sources of um the public kind of come together and support these projects. >> That's really cool. Thank you. I'll pose the question next to Kadisha. >> Um during the implementation of this activity, WCS as an organization, it was the first time implementing implementing NBS. So it was new to us as well as new to our community members since a great part of [crying] this project that the involvement of our community members. So while it was it is something that we take and will use in future um activities and project it was new to us at the end. [snorts and clears throat] >> Mhm. >> Okay. So you're real trailblazers then. Um that's always great to hear. Uh and then uh Deine, what about in your region? Yeah, thank you. Yeah, for us I think uh if I may say for Randa at least it's like it's very supported the NBS the nature based solutions are so welcomed and as being a country is trying to be as green as possible. So the all the people love the nature based solutions. Of course, there are some um people who might not understand the the importance of those naturebased solutions, especially if you're talking of land. They might be afraid that you are taking their land if you want to plant some things and some trees. So they there there can be some rejections from the population but with uh with engaging them and making them understand as well as showing them that they can not it's not just a solution it's could be like a business can it has some added values as well and they could be making getting jobs from there or even um getting for instance if the the the res restoration of a wetlands the there are some tourists who can come to visit the place and the people around that region will get the money from those uh uh activities. So now it's very much well seen and welcomed. >> It's so interesting to hear how the considerations are different in all three regions. This next question is specifically directed for Devine. in your presentation where you showed the uh plant filters that you were using for your project, could that solution be replicated in other regions? >> Uh the filters, right? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. As I said, this is a p pilot project which was um which is being implemented in drawback in South Africa. But I think it's yeah it could be it could be replicated in other regions as long as the you just know the the the right species to get in your filters that they can filter and also know the purpose of the end product that you want. Because if you want to treat water for drinking, you can't rely on that. That water especially this is meant for irrigation or restoration for the environment itself. So it can be replicated but you also need to assess the region where you want to replicate it. So maybe in some regions you might need different species to the ones that are used used there. >> Yeah, that's always the thing with naturebased solutions, isn't it? It's so geographically specific. >> Yeah. >> Uh this next question is directed towards Angela. This is a question coming from a young American who's interested in this topic and they would like to know um what are the most effective ways that young people in this United States can advocate for these kinds of projects in their own state? I think that um community engagement meetings can be a great opportunity because often um these types of projects are identified at the very local level. So if there's uh projects or actions or ways to get involved in your local community that can help to identify those projects, but do some research. there might already be um efforts underway to improve uh parks or um nature-based solutions around you and you could even tag on to some of those efforts that have already been uh identified as well. >> Thank you. Um I I now have a a question coming from the audience that we can direct at all of you. So I will ask all three of you to respond for young scientists and innovators who are on the call today who are really interested in naturebased solutions but they'd like to move beyond raising awareness or very smallcale projects. How can they become meaningful contributors to the larger scale scaling up of natural infrastructure? I'll ask Kadisha to answer first. Um, I would suggest getting other associations groups involved as well as requesting assistance from our local governmental institutions and seeking funding from larger donor agencies because um, unfortunately some of our association and I speak because I work with community members, they don't have the support and or agency afforded to them in comparison to others and so whereby they can seek support funding from donor agencies especially. Then I do believe these support services can be scaled up significantly for them especially. >> That's wonderful advice. Thank you. Um I'll now turn the question to Deine. >> Sorry, Emily. Can I get the question again? >> For sure. for young scientists and innovators who want to do more than just um raising awareness, how can they meaningfully contribute to scaling up nature-based solutions? >> Okay. Uh okay. I think that that's there is a great start because they already in in the awareness which is a good start and is also needed but uh but also to get into uh implementation if I could so they need as my as Kadisha said they need to uh partner with other organizations which are already to better understand the sector or what's going on and also um be confident like uh the projects are there and uh the needs are there cuz the climate is changing and something needs to be done. We don't just talk about it and just sit. So we just need to be bold and say our ideas and also act and start to think beyond as young people. Try to innovate, try to find some solutions. Not just complain about the pro the problems but also get involved in the finding the solutions rather than just the advocacy. But let's start and if you may cuz you might say the finance is not there. Yes, cuz young people it can be a challenge. But you can just that's where the partnerships comes just approach the other who might have the funds that you need and interest them and show how not only those nature based solutions will be a solution but it can be even be an investment. So that's the approach that I'll use. Thank you. >> Thank you. And and now Angela same question to you. >> Sure. I will uh answer with one way. It's not the only way, but it's the way that um has worked for me. And uh what I do now is I I work for a a group of engineers who is responsible for for creating the designs, laying out contract documents, and working with construction work uh to actually, you know, get these projects built and in the ground. Um, so if that's really where you see yourself, if you want to work on that level, then um, working to get an engineering license or um, what technical skills you need to engage in that type of project work would be one way that you can have a meaningful impact. Um, and as more projects are put in the ground and their success is seen, then the more large scale projects will keep coming down the road. Thank you all for those great answers. Um, our next question is getting into the weeds a little bit. Sorry for the plant pun. Um, but again, I'll pose it to all three of you. When you're planning for a natural infrastructure project uh to work for water, how do you determine which plants are going to be useful or which species of tree, etc. to actually include in in the project and how do you know those will be useful options. I'll go in the same order starting with Kadisha. So for our activities um we work closely with the community members for them to see um is what would be beneficial to them, what has worked for them and more so what will not work for them in addition to the research that we have. So I mentioned before that under one of our activity we did an assessment of some of the implementation support that was done over the past years to find out what did work and also these revealed to us some things that we could have used whilst in the implementation of the Kappa initiative and at the same time we did an analysis and identified thematic areas whereby we could focus and identify priority activities for our community members. at the same time. >> Okay. So, that's a a really in-depth approach. Thank you. I'll turn to Dine next. >> Yeah. Thank you. I think that it's the same approach as Kadisha where we are mostly working with the community cuz we believe they understand more more than us whatever we are proposing as a solution. And um those people they know the non-native species they understand their environment they know the the the the native species and the invasive species and also apart from that as engineers or scientists we have we also made some research to understand the better the aquatic life of that region so that we don't bring in uh species which are not right. For instance, we have there is a region where we have water. So, we need to understand better and and learn what's causing those water and uh involve the community to to find a solution in that. Yeah. Thank you. >> I I can see some common threads between those first two answers. I'll turn now to Angela. >> Sure. Um in terms of plant selection um I think it yeah it's highly sensitive to what's the local ecology and what will work there. Um in our case and in the horizontal levy example I shared um it its performance was not sensitive to the plant selection in terms of water quality benefits. Um so that just gave us a lot of flexibility in what planting pallet we could use so that it could you know fulfill the habitat quality goal more so than uh be the critical factor for treatment. Uh okay so that that's even coming in from a different perspective which is really interesting. Uh but staying on some of that technical note um we're only have time for one or two more questions now. Um, this next one I'm not actually sure whether any of our panelists will have an answer, but let's give it a shot. In what ways are technologies like invest modeling and remote sensing being used um in the planning of natural infrastructure projects? Is anyone on our panel able to respond to that? Okay. So, this this might not be quite the right panel to answer that question. Um, but I'll tell you what, if you keep it in the Q&A box anyway, we'll try to find someone who can answer by email afterwards. Um, so we'll try to answer the question either way. Um, so we'll do one last question then, um, for all of the panelists. I'll ask you to limit your responses to about 30 seconds or so for time. What inspires you to continue working on natural infrastructure solutions? This time I'll start with Angela. >> Oh, I I think um well, I hope that my presentation conveyed that I'm quite inspired by this topic, but really at the heart of it is uh people and delivering sustainable solutions over time. And that's that's water quality and nature is the best architect I think of water quality solutions. >> That's beautiful. Thank you. I'll turn to Kadisha next. >> I will piggy back off of Angela and said the benefits to the communities especially when it is shared with us during and after the implementation of a project. >> Awesome. Thank you. And last but not least, Deine. Yeah, I would say uh I'm passionate about water. So as as I know and nature B solutions are the mas that are cleaning our water. So as someone passionate about water as long as I know the people are getting clean water. So I'm passionate and also knowing that people are going to breathe nice air because of those solutions as well and also getting a beautiful view some views green is beautiful. So, yeah. >> Well, if those three answers don't inspire you to want to be involved in naturebased solutions, I don't know what will. Um, because that inspires me. Um, but I want to give a huge thank you to all three panelists. That was so wonderful. And I just have a few closing remarks for everyone. Uh, thank you so much to all of our audience for joining today. I'm so happy with how engaged you all were and how many questions we got in the Q&A chat box. I will remind you that if you enjoyed our webinar today, this is the third in a series of six webinars. Um, so I I may just quickly ask Isabella to remind us the date of the next webinar. Thank you, Emily. Let me just work on on my screen here. We are working towards the planning of the second web sorry the third webinar and it's going to be on the I forgot my calendar sorry on 4th of September >> on a Friday and I will be posting all the information uh to the registration in the IW website and all the partner organizations will be responsible for disseminating it accordingly. >> Awesome. So September 4th, make sure you'll be there. >> Um, and then last but not least, if anyone here is interested in these webinars because you yourself will be involved in the UN water conference, please do reach out. We would be really happy to be in touch with you. Um, and don't be shy. My email inbox is open. So with that, if there's no further remarks, um I would just say thank you so much to everyone and enjoy the rest of your day or evening depending where you are. Yeah. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Bye-bye. >> Bye.