Maximizing Benefits to Nature and Society in Techno-Ecological Innovation for Water

Isaac Dekker, Shabnam Sharifyazd, Evans Batung and Kristian L. Dubrawski
Additional contact information
Isaac Dekker: Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada
Shabnam Sharifyazd: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada
Evans Batung: Department of Geography and Environment, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
Kristian L. Dubrawski: Department of Geography, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: Nature-based solutions (NbS) build upon the proven contribution of well-managed and diverse ecosystems to enhance resilience of human societies. They include alternatives to techno-industrial solutions that aim to enhance social-ecological integration by providing simultaneous benefits to nature (such as biodiversity protection and green/blue space) and society (such as ecosystem services and climate resiliency). Yet, many NbS exhibit aspects of a technological or engineered ecosystem integrated into nature; this techno-ecological coupling has not been widely considered. In this work, our aim is to investigate this coupling through a high-level and cross-disciplinary analysis of NbS for water security (quantity, quality, and/or water-related risk) across the spectrums of naturalness, biota scale, and benefits to nature and society. Within the limitations of our conceptual analysis, we highlight the clear gap between “nature” and “nature-based” for most NbS. We present a preliminary framework for advancing innovation efforts in NbS towards maximizing benefits to both nature and society, and offer examples in biophysical innovation and innovation to maximize techno-ecological synergies (TES).

Keywords: water security; nature-based solutions; technology and nature; ecological engineering; innovation systems; ecological civilization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/6400/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/11/6400/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:11:p:6400-:d:568834

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().