March 31, 2026

Watch: Does Nature Deliver? Monitoring the Effectiveness of Coastal Nature-Based Solutions

Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions

While the benefits of nature-based solutions (NBS) are well-documented, adoption remains relatively slow—partly because we lack consistent data on how interventions perform under different contexts. 

In this March 2026 National Ecosystem Services Partnership Webinar, Rachel Gittman (East Carolina University) and Gary Sundin (South Carolina Department of Natural Resources) detail two initiatives to improve and standardize monitoring of living shorelines and other coastal NBS projects in the southeastern United States. 

Additionally, Lydia Olander and Katie Warnell (Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Duke University) discuss a Duke University project developing a framework to support more consistent regional collection of NBS effectiveness data.