Developing an Engineering With Nature® (EWN) Approach for Resilience Through Military Installation and Community Engagement | W81EWF 21 SOI 0019

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1) What is this funding opportunity trying to accomplish?

This Department of Defense (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) opportunity supports a cooperative agreement to build and apply an Engineering With Nature (EWN) approach that strengthens resilience for military installations and the surrounding civilian communities. The focus is on practical, cost-effective strategies that deliberately integrate natural processes with engineered solutions to produce economic, environmental, and social benefits at the same time.

2) What does Engineering With Nature (EWN) mean in this opportunity?

EWN is framed as the deliberate integration of natural processes and engineered solutions. The underlying idea is that modern resilience challenges (especially those tied to climate change and natural hazards) are not handled well by engineering alone or ecology alone; the solicitation is looking for collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches that blend the two in ways that can be implemented in real-world settings.

3) Who is the funder and what type of award is it?

The opportunity is administered by the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and it is offered as a cooperative agreement.

4) What is the Funding Opportunity Number and CFDA listing?

Funding Opportunity Number: W81EWF 21 SOI 0019. CFDA: 12.630.

5) How many awards are expected and what is the maximum award amount?

The posting indicated one expected award. The award ceiling is $1,500,000.

6) What is the overall project focus: military resilience, community resilience, or both?

Both. A central emphasis is the real-world connection between installation resilience and community resilience, especially where military bases and nearby communities share interconnected systems (physical and social). The work is intended to strengthen resilience across these linked environments rather than treating them as separate problems.

7) What kinds of systems and infrastructure does the opportunity emphasize?

The solicitation highlights shared infrastructure and interconnected systems where risks and cascading failures can propagate, including transportation, stormwater and drainage networks, shorelines and wetlands, utilities, supply chains, and social support systems.

8) What role does climate change and natural hazards play in the scope?

Climate change and natural hazards are explicitly called out as key drivers of modern resilience challenges. The project is expected to identify climate and natural hazard vulnerabilities affecting existing or planned infrastructure in both military and adjacent community contexts, and to explore EWN interventions that could reduce those vulnerabilities.

9) What is the expected partnership structure (CESU) and why does it matter?

The work is expected to be carried out through a CESU (Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units) arrangement, which is intended to help create and sustain partnerships. In practice, this points to a team that can function as a connector and facilitator among military installations, local governments, regional planners, community organizations, and other linked stakeholders.

10) What are the five required objectives described in the solicitation?

The anticipated work is organized around five required objectives:

• Objective 1: Identify climate and natural hazard vulnerabilities affecting existing or planned infrastructure in military and adjacent community contexts, and explore potential EWN interventions to reduce vulnerabilities.
• Objective 2: Examine how interconnections between installations and surrounding communities influence resilience by characterizing physical linkages (shared corridors, watersheds, utilities, facilities) and social linkages (governance relationships, organizational networks, information flow, trust). This includes system-level vulnerability identification and collaborative evaluation/prioritization of EWN strategies.
• Objective 3: Characterize system processes and support deployment of EWN demonstration projects by co-developing research questions and applied demonstrations with stakeholders, integrating multiple disciplines, and evaluating vulnerabilities across scales.
• Objective 4: Develop test sites and pilot field projects to evaluate EWN effectiveness while meeting immediate resilience needs. By the end of year one, the effort is expected to initiate roughly three to five research and development EWN projects, with attention to technology transfer and broader adoption.
• Objective 5: Establish and improve communication channels that advance resilience through EWN, including research on communication methods that build relationships and trust, tools and instructional materials to expand stakeholder-to-stakeholder communication, and practical products that help implement, operate, and maintain EWN features over time. Year one is also expected to initiate about three to five R&D efforts tied to communication and engagement.

11) What does the opportunity mean by studying resilience across spatial and temporal scales?

It calls for improved predictive understanding of how natural, social, and technological processes interact to shape resilience and vulnerability, and it explicitly wants these interactions studied across spatial and temporal scales. This includes how risks and cascading failures move through shared systems over time and across geographies.

12) What disciplines are expected to be involved?

A major thrust is basic and applied science that crosses engineering, environmental science, ecology, and social science, with explicit attention to how social science insights can be translated into the way resilience planning networks work and how infrastructure investment decisions are made.

13) What is meant by “resilience planning networks” in this context?

The solicitation emphasizes that resilience is not only about hardening assets. It also involves understanding vulnerabilities across systems, aligning investments, and improving the planning networks and communication pathways that determine what actually gets implemented. The project is expected to research and improve coordinated action among many players.

14) What is expected in year one versus later years?

The planned period is structured with a foundational year one focused on building the project structure and initiating early projects. Years two and three (if funded) are expected to expand into a broader portfolio of collaborative EWN projects, demonstrations, and engagement activities that jointly support military mission assurance and community-wide resilience.

15) How many EWN demonstration or R&D projects should start in year one?

By the end of year one, the solicitation anticipates initiating roughly three to five research and development EWN projects as part of the test site/pilot effort, along with about three to five R&D efforts specifically tied to improving communication and engagement.

16) What is the expected role of stakeholders like local governments and community organizations?

The selected team is expected to work directly with stakeholders and act as a connector and facilitator among military bases, local governments, regional planners, community organizations, and other stakeholders. Stakeholders are expected to be involved in co-developing research questions and applied demonstrations, and in collaborative evaluation and prioritization of EWN strategies.

17) What kinds of interconnections between installations and communities must be examined?

The project must characterize both:

• Physical infrastructure linkages: shared corridors, watersheds, utilities, and facilities.
• Social infrastructure linkages: governance relationships, organizational networks, information flow, and trust.

18) What deliverables are expected beyond academic research papers?

Deliverables are expected to go beyond academic outputs and include a working communication platform that can routinely produce and distribute useful materials across the EWN network. Examples include workshops and symposia, news and outreach articles, videos or documentaries, graphics, case study reporting, technical notes, and peer-reviewed journal articles.

19) What is a “working communication platform” in this solicitation?

It is described as a platform that can routinely produce and distribute useful materials across the EWN network. The intent is ongoing dissemination and practical support, not one-off outreach, and it is tied to building relationships, trust, and implementable guidance for EWN over time.

20) What does the solicitation say about communication, trust, and engagement?

Communication is a required objective. The project must establish and improve communication channels that advance resilience through EWN, including research on which communication methods best build relationships and trust, tools and instructional materials that expand stakeholder-to-stakeholder communication, and practical products that support long-term implementation, operations, and maintenance of EWN features.

21) What does “technology transfer and broader adoption” mean here?

Within the context provided, it refers to designing and initiating EWN research, development, and demonstration projects in ways that support practical uptake beyond initial pilots, helping EWN approaches be used more widely by installations and communities.

22) What characteristics does the solicitation associate with a competitive team?

The opportunity highlights several team strengths, including access to strong research facilities for resilience-related science, established outreach and engagement networks (including coastal and inland coverage such as land-grant and sea-grant networks), proven experience in strategic planning and community visioning, and strong multimedia communication capabilities.

23) What kinds of real-world settings does the opportunity prioritize?

It favors teams that have worked in complex community environments where military, commercial, industrial, residential, and recreational interests overlap.

24) Are training and education activities part of the expectation?

Yes. The solicitation requires the ability to provide education and training in both remote and in-person formats.

25) How important is scalability in this opportunity?

Scalability is a key expectation. The selected team should be able to rapidly expand engagement and planning efforts across a region or even nationally if needed.

26) What does the opportunity say about inclusive engagement and under-represented voices?

It places weight on inclusive engagement, noting that participation by historically under-represented voices can improve solutions.

27) Does the solicitation specifically mention Tribal engagement?

Yes. It specifically calls out the importance of connecting with and engaging tribal organizations.

28) Is the opportunity purely about building physical projects, or does it include planning and coordination?

It is intended as a blend of research, planning, education, and implementation support. The emphasis includes demonstrable projects on the ground as well as replicable processes and improved coordination that help institutions and communities plan and work together.

29) What is the main research emphasis described in the opportunity?

A major research thrust is developing basic and applied science that crosses engineering, environmental science, ecology, and social science, with improved predictive understanding of how natural, social, and technological processes interact to shape resilience and vulnerability.

30) What does “co-develop research questions and applied demonstrations” imply for project execution?

It implies the work should be carried out collaboratively with stakeholders, with research and demonstrations shaped by real-world resilience needs and by the practical constraints and opportunities present across installations and surrounding communities.