Building with Nature solutions can contribute to the reduction of flood risks and at the same time increases ecological and socioeconomical values in coastal areas (De Vriend et al. 2014). Building with Nature is a Dutch term and many more similar concepts are being introduced worldwide, all focusing on the interplay between physics, ecology, and governance to guarantee safety against flooding:

In order to conceive any realistic plan for post-Katrina island restoration, it is necessary to understand the physical processes that move sand along the littoral drift zone off the coast of Mississippi. This littoral zone influences the character of the Mississippi barrier islands as they exist in an ever changing cycle. To help in this understanding, a sediment transport model was conducted to establish a current sediment budget for the islands. This study evaluated the existing regional sediment transport magnitudes and directions for the Mississippi and Alabama barrier islands fronting Mississippi Sound including daily conditions and hurricanes. A method was developed to incorporate all relevant hurricanes from 1917 to 2010 in the analysis. For the long term average net longshore transport along the southern shorelines of the barriers (i.e. exposed to the Gulf of Mexico), the contribution of year-averaged conditions and hurricanes are of similar order of magnitude, although the mean annual percentage occurrence of hurricanes is no more than about 3%. Along the northern shores (Mississippi Sound side) the transport is considerably smaller and the contributions of cold fronts and hurricanes to the sediment transports are more or less equal. For the year-averaged conditions (excluding hurricanes) a westward directed net transport is found. The net effect of the historic hurricanes is also westward in direction. However, for individual hurricanes (e.g. Camille and Katrina) the net transport along Ship Island can be directed eastward due to the dominance of ebb flows after the eye of the hurricane had passed.

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In the light of challenges raised by a changing climate and increasing population pressure in coastal regions, it has become clear that theoretical models and scattered experiments do not provide the data we urgently need to understand coastal conditions and processes. We propose a Dutch coastline observatory named ICON.NL, based at the Delfland Coast with core observations focused on the internationally well-known Sand Engine experiment, as part of an International Coastline Observatories Network (ICON). ICON.NL will cover the physics and ecology from deep water to the dunes. Data will be collected continuously by novel remote sensing and in-situ sensors, coupled to numerical models to yield unsurpassed long-term coastline measurements. The combination of the unique site and ambitious monitoring design enables new avenues in coastal science and a leap in interdisciplinary research.