This half-day (4-hour) management-level course aims to highlight nature-based solutions as important and effective tools for mitigating hazards and climate impacts. The course provides planners, government officials, and hazard mitigation professionals information on the types, applications, and benefits of nature-based solutions as well as the common barriers for their use. Beyond an overview of nature-based solutions, the course focuses on the planning and implementation mechanisms that can be leveraged to employ these solutions in practice. This includes planning mechanisms related to land use, hazard mitigation, stormwater management, transportation, open space, and disaster recovery. The course will also highlight important planning considerations for utilizing nature-based solutions, including planning quality, alignment among plans, and equity in nature-based solutions; as well as the public and private funding mechanisms for implementing them.

As a management-level course, this training is intended to provide decision-makers with the information needed to select and promote applicable nature-based solutions as a complement or alternative to structural mitigation measures to make their communities safer.

As a management-level course, this training targets professionals involved in identifying, selecting, planning, and implementing hazard mitigation strategies and projects at the local level.  The target audience includes urban planning and hazard mitigation professionals, emergency managers, government officials, engineers, transportation professionals, public utilities, public works, and non-government organizations with an interest in natural solutions to hazards.

• Describe the types and benefits of, and the barriers to using nature-based solutions,
• Integrate nature-based solutions into a community’s existing planning mechanisms,
• Leverage available resources to implement nature-based solutions to mitigate hazards.

This course has no pre-requisites. However, students are encouraged to have a working knowledge of the fundamentals of natural hazards planning or take one of the following courses:  AWR-228 Community Resilience (NDPTC), AWR-356 Community Planning for Disaster Recovery (NDPTC), AWR-379 Coastal Hazards Awareness (NDPTC), AWR-310 Natural Disaster Awareness for Community Leaders (NDPTC), AWR-362 Flooding Hazards (NDPTC), or Nature-Based Solutions for Coastal Hazards (NOAA).

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• Pre-test to be completed PRIOR to the course. Assists to assess familiarity with the course subject material.
• Post test to be completed at completion of course. To receive a FEMA issued Certificate of Completion, a post test score of at least 70% must be obtained.