The Future of the Public Realm

FRI-B10: Drafting Resilience: Natural Infrastructure for Mission Ready Shorelines

Friday, September 18, 2026

10:45 AM - 12:00 PM PT

1.25 PDH, LA CES/HSW

Speaker(s)

Steven P. Bailey

Landscape Researcher
Engineering With Nature, US Army Corps of Engineers Engineering Research and Development Center Coastal and Hydraulics Labratory
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Sophie Riedel, ASLA, PLA, WEDG

Landscape Architect
Waggonner & Ball, a Moffatt & Nichol Studio
New Orleans, Louisiana
Katie Baltzer (she/her/hers)

Coastal Projects Manager
The Nature Conservancy
Mobile, Alabama

Discover how military installations are using natural and hybrid infrastructure to build resilience at scale. Panelists representing federal research, private-sector design, and NGO leadership will share case studies —from large coastal pilots to waterfront military closures—demonstrating scalable strategies that deliver multi-benefit operational, environmental, and community outcomes.

Learning Outcomes:

Identify and position opportunities for large-scale nature-based solution pilots by recognizing catalytic sites, aligning multi-benefit outcomes, and framing projects to attract interdisciplinary partnerships and funding.
Apply strategies for balancing restoration goals with mission-readiness, including how co-benefits can support resilience, ecological performance, and operational or risk-reduction objectives on legacy and decommissioned landscapes.
Integrate historic preservation and adaptive reuse into resilience projects, leveraging existing infrastructure and layered site narratives to strengthen design outcomes, cultural continuity, and environmental performance.
Apply landscape-scale inventory and analysis to inform the design and implementation of systemically resilient natural and hybrid infrastructure in coastal systems.