Resilient Futures Podcast (Formerly Future Cities)
Resilient Futures is a monthly podcast on all things resilience! The show examines this topic by discussing ongoing research, highlighting current efforts, and sharing stories of resilience in diverse contexts across the world! By exploring a wide variety of perspectives, the show digs deep into understanding the many dimensions of resilience. New episodes will be released at the start of every month. If you have questions about things we've discussed or have suggestions for future episodes, please e-mail us at futurecitiespodcast@gmail.com or send us a message on Twitter @RFuturesPod. (This podcast was previously named Future Cities.)
Resilient Futures Podcast (Formerly Future Cities)
UGA's Resilient Future: Creating Space for Nature-based Solutions
Introducing Dr. Brian Bledsoe, Director of the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Georgia and farmer, guitar player, and dad (not in that order.)
Our hosts Alysha Helmrich and Todd Bridges join Bledsoe in reviewing his lifelong commitment to research and interdisciplinary collaboration. His career has largely focused on river management and hydrology, leading him to work not just with engineers but ecologists, economists, geologists, lawyers and more. When he proposed a new institute at UGA focusing on natural solutions for infrastructure problems, he found a large community of interest that confirmed just how critical interdisciplinary expertise was for resilience.
Bledsoe described the "tremendous potential" nature-based solutions have to change how we approach development. His own mission in the movement is "to act as a connector of people who are committed to rethinking infrastructure." IRIS itself is meant to adapt to needs of the researchers, stakeholders and students that comprise it, but Bledsoe hopes that the institute can act as a lighthouse for natural infrastructure solutions.
He explains how IRIS is promoting this work for their large community of students and partners, and calls on practitioners of the IRIS mission to be "relentless listeners," sharing knowledge while learning from others. Listen now to learn more about IRIS's ongoing work on nature-based solutions!
Brian's poems:
When in doubt,
Don’t just build it stout-
Spread it out!
Bend, don’t break
Hard and strong will fail
Green sapling.
Dr. Brian Bledsoe, UGA IRIS: https://iris.uga.edu/iris-people/brian-bledsoe-p-e/
Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems: https://iris.uga.edu/
IRIS's new Natural Infrastructure Certificate: https://iris.uga.edu/natural-infrastructure-certificate/
ASCE's statement on NbS: https://www.asce.org/advocacy/policy-statements/ps575---nature-based-solutions
IRIS's NbS Job Board: https://iris.uga.edu/the-iris-job-board/
Check out this past episode that also discusses interdisciplinary resilience:
https://iris.uga.edu/2023/11/15/resilient-futures-podcast-episode-2-promoting-resilience-interdisciplinary-expertise-and-collaboration/