NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Linking the Green Economy to the Blue Economy at the Coast

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The US Exclusive Economic Zone is a formal jurisdiction that extends the US territory 200 nautical miles from the coast into the ocean. It includes coastal and offshore areas covering nearly 4.4 million square miles in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This is about 15% larger than the US land mass and is the second largest Exclusive Economic Zone in the world. This zone supports major industries, like shipping, tourism, seafood, pharmaceuticals, oil, wind and other renewable energy, and national priority areas such as academic research and defense. Coastal areas are at the core of local recreation and many cultural activities. These activities translate into local jobs, with nearly 50% of the US population living in coastal watershed counties, but also farther away from any specific coastal region. Many coastal communities, both in the US and internationally, are at the forefront of impacts of climate change and upstream activities associated with land-based agriculture practices, other industries, and urbanization. Those upstream Green Economy activities have impacted water quantity and quality downstream, diminishing the ability of many coastal communities to develop the full and sustainable potential of their ocean-based Blue Economy. This research team will work with a diverse cross-section of coastal communities to co-develop solutions to these challenges and to improve their health and economy. Particular focus will be on the linkages between Blue-Green ‘frontline’ communities, which often are disadvantaged for a number of historical reasons, and face substantial challenges from climate change and human activities within each watershed. The “NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Linking the Green Economy to the Blue Economy at the Coast” project will examine links and opportunities to strengthen both the Blue economy of coastal frontline communities and Green economy activities of upstream communities, and develop a framework and platform for exchanging information to ultimately improve lives. This project will improve success in understanding and protecting coastal ecosystems, part of the US decadal vision to promote American security and prosperity. It will also create an ocean-literate workforce through public engagement.The “NSF Convergence Accelerator Track E: Linking the Green Economy to the Blue Economy at the Coast” project will combine expertise from social scientists, natural sciences including ecologists, and engineers and technologists to work with coastal frontline communities that are affected by Green economy activities in three watersheds of different geographic scales. The objectives are to: 1) Co-create inclusive mechanisms for dialogue and planning between coastal and upstream communities to better facilitate Blue and Green Economy opportunities, and identify new partners for developing our Blue-Green Accelerator platform; 2) Characterize linkages and dynamics between coastal and upstream communities and identify Blue and Green Economy tradeoffs, including other related tradeoffs such as water quality, health, or transportation connectivity; 3) Select a small number of information sets for prototype platform development, and identify linkages between, and scales of, natural and social processes relevant for frontline communities, 4) Deliver relevant scientific information co-developed with and for communities in an understandable, inclusive, and actionable form and assess its usage with frontline communities. The project objectives will be achieved through three case studies: a) Tampa Bay watershed water quality improvement which is a recognized success story; b) Salt River estuary in the U.S. Virgin Islands, a smaller estuary that is under intense pressure due to land development upstream; and c) a national-scale study with coastal communities in the northern Gulf of Mexico that requires action in the Mississippi River watershed. The project addresses National Academy of Engineering’s grand challenges of managing the nitrogen cycle, sequestering carbon, and restoring and improving urban infrastructure, as well as the five grand challenges for environmental engineering, especially that of fostering informed decisions and actions. The 13 member research team (6 women and 3 underrepresented minorities) represents two large academic institutions from the south and midwest with interdisciplinary food-energy-water systems National Research Traineeship programs (University of South Florida and the University of Iowa), one National Estuary Program (Tampa Bay Estuary Program), one local government entity (US Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources), and one non-governmental organization committed to broadening participation in Marine Sciences (Black in Marine Science). The disciplinary expertise of the project includes researchers and practitioners from Anthropology, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Marine Science, with personnel who cover policy, community engaged research, ethnographic research, fisheries, systems dynamics, interdisciplinary education, big data, remote sensing, in situ monitoring, and public education and outreach. The principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion will guide all project activities. Three main workshops with diverse stakeholders and site visits for the targeted watersheds will result in valuable outputs (reports, multimedia, systems dynamics models, papers) that will be disseminated via conference and community presentations, and through dissemination pathways of the various partners. Recruitment of workshop participants will be done to ensure diverse perspectives from across the US, including those of early career scientists, and frontline community members.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.