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Pathways to coastal resiliency: The Adaptive Gradients Framework

Publication ,  Journal Article
Hamin, EM; Abunnasr, Y; Dilthey, MR; Judge, PK; Kenney, MA; Kirshen, P; Sheahan, TC; DeGroot, DJ; Ryan, RL; McAdoo, BG; Nurse, L; Buxton, JA ...
Published in: Sustainability (Switzerland)
July 26, 2018

Current and future climate-related coastal impacts such as catastrophic and repetitive flooding, hurricane intensity, and sea level rise necessitate a new approach to developing and managing coastal infrastructure. Traditional "hard" or "grey" engineering solutions are proving both expensive and inflexible in the face of a rapidly changing coastal environment. Hybrid solutions that incorporate natural, nature-based, structural, and non-structural features may better achieve a broad set of goals such as ecological enhancement, long-term adaptation, and social benefits, but broad consideration and uptake of these approaches has been slow. One barrier to the widespread implementation of hybrid solutions is the lack of a relatively quick but holistic evaluation framework that places these broader environmental and societal goals on equal footing with the more traditional goal of exposure reduction. To respond to this need, the Adaptive Gradients Framework was developed and pilot-tested as a qualitative, flexible, and collaborative process guide for organizations to understand, evaluate, and potentially select more diverse kinds of infrastructural responses. These responses would ideally include natural, nature-based, and regulatory/cultural approaches, as well as hybrid designs combining multiple approaches. It enables rapid expert review of project designs based on eight metrics called "gradients", which include exposure reduction, cost efficiency, institutional capacity, ecological enhancement, adaptation over time, greenhouse gas reduction, participatory process, and social benefits. The framework was conceptualized and developed in three phases: relevant factors and barriers were collected from practitioners and experts by survey; these factors were ranked by importance and used to develop the initial framework; several case studies were iteratively evaluated using this technique; and the framework was finalized for implementation. The article presents the framework and a pilot test of its application, along with resources that would enable wider application of the framework by practitioners and theorists.

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Published In

Sustainability (Switzerland)

DOI

EISSN

2071-1050

Publication Date

July 26, 2018

Volume

10

Issue

8

Related Subject Headings

  • 12 Built Environment and Design
 

Citation

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Hamin, E. M., Abunnasr, Y., Dilthey, M. R., Judge, P. K., Kenney, M. A., Kirshen, P., … Fricke, R. (2018). Pathways to coastal resiliency: The Adaptive Gradients Framework. Sustainability (Switzerland), 10(8). https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082629
Hamin, E. M., Y. Abunnasr, M. R. Dilthey, P. K. Judge, M. A. Kenney, P. Kirshen, T. C. Sheahan, et al. “Pathways to coastal resiliency: The Adaptive Gradients Framework.” Sustainability (Switzerland) 10, no. 8 (July 26, 2018). https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082629.
Hamin EM, Abunnasr Y, Dilthey MR, Judge PK, Kenney MA, Kirshen P, et al. Pathways to coastal resiliency: The Adaptive Gradients Framework. Sustainability (Switzerland). 2018 Jul 26;10(8).
Hamin, E. M., et al. “Pathways to coastal resiliency: The Adaptive Gradients Framework.” Sustainability (Switzerland), vol. 10, no. 8, July 2018. Scopus, doi:10.3390/su10082629.
Hamin EM, Abunnasr Y, Dilthey MR, Judge PK, Kenney MA, Kirshen P, Sheahan TC, DeGroot DJ, Ryan RL, McAdoo BG, Nurse L, Buxton JA, Sutton-Grier AE, Albright EA, Marin MA, Fricke R. Pathways to coastal resiliency: The Adaptive Gradients Framework. Sustainability (Switzerland). 2018 Jul 26;10(8).

Published In

Sustainability (Switzerland)

DOI

EISSN

2071-1050

Publication Date

July 26, 2018

Volume

10

Issue

8

Related Subject Headings

  • 12 Built Environment and Design