If you’re a coastal engineer, ecologist or planner, then this is the course for you. You already know that engineering and ecological principles are not enough to realize nature-friendly solutions in practice. You need people on your side!

In this course you will learn how to build a relevant coalition of stakeholders to support the design and implementation of ecosystem-based hydraulic infrastructures. After learning basic stakeholder mapping and game theory techniques, you will apply Social Design Principles to a Building with Nature ecosystem-based design case. This will equip you to identify promising collaborative arrangements for your engineering or planning practice.

The course builds on the previous Building with Nature MOOC, which explored the use of natural materials and ecological processes in achieving effective and sustainable hydraulic infrastructure designs, distilling Engineering and Ecological Design Principles. In this course, the missing element of Social Design Principles are developed and taught.

You’ll learn from renowned Dutch engineers and international environmental scientists, who work at the technical- governance interface. Iconic examples such as the Maasvlakte II expansion to Rotterdam Harbor and the Delfland Sand Engine Mega-nourishment serve as study material. The challenges in designing and implementing these nature-friendly hydraulic infrastructures are explored by the eminent professors who were responsible for their genesis.

Join us in becoming one of the new generation of engineers, ecologists and planners who see the Building with Nature integrated design approach as critical to hydraulic engineering, nature and society.

Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Define ecology and the four levels of ecological researchDescribe examples of the ways in which ecology requires the integration of different scientific disciplinesDistinguish between abiotic and biotic components of the environmentRecognize the relationship between abiotic and biotic components of the environment