[MUSIC PLAYING]
JILL SLINGER: We are all familiar with hydraulic engineering infrastructures.
Think of the dikes or levees that keep us
safe from flooding, the dams that supply us with water,
the groyne that prevent rivers and coasts eroding,
and even the break waters that protect harbors.
All of these infrastructure are designed by hydraulic engineers
for particular purpose.
Problem comes when the infrastructure is detrimental to nature or to the living
quality of people.
Think of a large dam that supplies drinking water to a metropol
but can't release sufficient water to maintain the downstream river.
It's sluices just aren't big enough.
Or a groyne, designed to protect a particular stretch of coast
from erosion but causing problems further along the coast
because it blocks all the sand transport.
These problems are known to engineers and to ecologists world over.
But how do you go about solving them?
How do you move from single purpose designs to multi-purpose designs
and combine the worlds of ecology and engineering?
Building With Nature is a new approach to providing hydraulic engineering
and ecology.
Hello, my name is Jill Slinger and I'm a Building With Nature specialist
from Delft University of Technology.
At Delft we are teaching a new generation of engineers
to build with nature rather than just building in nature;
to work effectively with ecologists and with other stakeholders
to realize nature friendly and nature enhancing hydraulic infrastructure.
So, Building With Nature is about using natural materials
and working with natural processes in hydraulic design.
It not only solves problems for nature that
are created by infrastructural projects-- it also
seeks to create opportunities for nature or restore ecosystems
while enhancing the design, operation, and maintenance of the infrastructure.
To do this we take an integrated design approach,
drawing together an understanding of the natural physical processes, engineering
design principles, and ecological principles.
We teach students to make connections between the effects
that an infrastructure will have in the real world and the design
choices of the hydraulic engineer.
So we look for ways in which the composition, the character,
and the functioning of ecosystems can be maintained and enhanced.
The MOOC Building With Nature forms an entry port
to the portfolio of teaching on Building With Nature
by Delft University of Technology.
The MOOC offers open access and will introduce you
to the Building With Nature approach.
When you complete the MOOC, you'll be able to explain
basic engineering design principles and basic ecological principles.
You'll be able to asses which principles are applied in several case studies
and evaluate where a particular hydraulic engineering
infrastructure is meeting engineering, ecosystem, and societal problems.
And you can apply your new knowledge in assessing the potential for Building
With Nature solutions in your locality.
Your teachers are renowned Dutch engineers and environmental scientists.
You see, the Building With Nature integrated design approach
is fundamental to a new generation of engineers and ecologists.
Come.
Join us in exploring the interface between hydraulic engineering, nature,
and society.