Implementing GI approaches to river engineering protection measures

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Green infrastructure (GI) river engineering approaches are fundamental to improving the quality, morphology and ecology of our waterbodies; and as part of an overall strategy to help people and communities adapt to the negative effects of climate change. There is also a strong legislative framework which drives the need to protect and enhance the environment.GI solutions include green engineering measures and greening grey river engineering assets with equivalent or increased benefits compared to conventional "grey" infrastructure. They can become self-regenerating and represent a long-term solution that also promotes bio-diversity.There are however, procedural and technical barriers which prevent and obstruct the implementation of green solutions as part of river engineering protection schemes. They are perceived as having a higher risk of failure than grey (or hard) engineering solutions, are insufficiently supported by design and maintenance guidance and procedures or by evidence-based approaches.The objective of the project is to support asset managers, engineers, decision-makers, and other end-users to identify and select green engineering options for river engineering protection in the fluvial environment. The project will develop a decision support framework for selection and application of green infrastructure approaches to fluvial flood defence and erosion risk management interventions in rivers. The proposed work will draw together the existing academic knowledge on green infrastructure measures for flood risk and erosion protection schemes and be complemented with a range of case studies that support their practical application. This will underpin the decision support tool that will be developed. It will answer the questions: what techniques work in different channel typologies and what are their benefits and limitations.The project will pull out the new available and relevant research and experience and knowledge and make it more widely available to practitioners helping them to select green and green-grey solutions using similar type of criteria than when exploring grey solutions. This will help to overcome some of the barriers of prejudice and ignorance and enable the implementation of GI concepts. The uptake of GI approaches will strengthen the functionality of fluvial ecosystems by greening the new and existing river protection and management infrastructure and will assist in compliance with the environmental aspects of the Floods Directive and the Water Framework Directive.