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

美国专属经济区是一个正式的管辖权，将美国领土从海岸延伸到海洋200海里。它包括大西洋和太平洋上近440万平方英里的沿海和近海地区。它比美国陆地面积大15%，是世界上第二大专属经济区。该区支持航运、旅游、海鲜、制药、石油、风能和其他可再生能源等主要产业，以及学术研究和国防等国家重点领域。沿海地区是当地娱乐和许多文化活动的核心。这些活动转化为当地的就业机会，近50%的美国人口生活在沿海流域县，但也远离任何特定的沿海地区。无论是在美国还是在国际上，许多沿海社区都处于气候变化和与陆基农业实践、其他工业和城市化相关的上游活动影响的最前沿。上游的绿色经济活动影响了下游的水量和水质，削弱了许多沿海社区充分开发其海洋蓝色经济的可持续潜力的能力。这个研究小组将与不同的沿海社区合作，共同制定应对这些挑战的解决方案，并改善他们的健康和经济。将特别关注蓝绿“前线”社区之间的联系，这些社区由于许多历史原因往往处于不利地位，并且面临着来自每个流域内气候变化和人类活动的重大挑战。“国家科学基金会融合加速器E轨道：将沿海绿色经济与蓝色经济联系起来”项目将研究加强沿海一线社区蓝色经济和上游社区绿色经济活动的联系和机会，并建立一个信息交流的框架和平台，以最终改善生活。该项目将提高对沿海生态系统的理解和保护，这是美国促进美国安全与繁荣的十年愿景的一部分。它还将通过公众参与，培养一支懂海洋的劳动力队伍。“国家科学基金会融合加速器E轨道：连接沿海绿色经济与蓝色经济”项目将结合社会科学家、自然科学（包括生态学家）、工程师和技术专家的专业知识，与三个不同地理尺度的流域受绿色经济活动影响的沿海一线社区合作。目标是：1)共同创建沿海和上游社区之间对话和规划的包容性机制，以更好地促进蓝色和绿色经济机会，并为发展我们的蓝绿加速器平台确定新的合作伙伴；2)描述沿海和上游社区之间的联系和动态，确定蓝色和绿色经济的权衡，包括其他相关的权衡，如水质、健康或交通连通性；3)选择少量信息集用于原型平台开发，并确定与一线社区相关的自然和社会过程之间的联系和规模；4)以可理解、包容和可操作的形式交付与社区共同开发的相关科学信息，并评估其与一线社区的使用情况。项目目标将通过三个案例研究来实现：a)坦帕湾流域水质改善，这是一个公认的成功案例；b)美属维尔京群岛的盐河河口，这是一个较小的河口，由于上游的土地开发而受到强烈的压力；c)对墨西哥湾北部沿海社区进行全国范围的研究，需要在密西西比河流域采取行动。该项目解决了美国国家工程院提出的管理氮循环、固碳、恢复和改善城市基础设施的重大挑战，以及环境工程的五大挑战，特别是促进明智的决策和行动。由13名成员组成的研究小组（6名女性和3名未被充分代表的少数民族）代表了来自南部和中西部的两个大型学术机构，他们拥有跨学科的食物-能源-水系统国家研究培训计划（南佛罗里达大学和爱荷华大学），一个国家河口计划（坦帕湾河口计划），一个地方政府实体（美属维尔京群岛规划和自然资源部）。一个非政府组织致力于扩大对海洋科学的参与（黑人参与海洋科学）。该项目的学科专家包括来自人类学、土木与环境工程、电气工程和海洋科学的研究人员和实践者，其人员涵盖政策、社区参与研究、民族志研究、渔业、系统动力学、跨学科教育、大数据、遥感、现场监测以及公共教育和宣传。多样性、公平和包容的原则将指导所有项目活动。有不同利益攸关方参加的三个主要讲习班和对目标流域的实地考察将产生有价值的产出（报告、多媒体、系统动力学模型、论文），这些产出将通过会议和社区介绍以及通过各合作伙伴的传播途径传播。将招募研讨会参与者，以确保来自美国各地的不同观点，包括早期职业科学家和一线社区成员。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.