The Nature-Based Infrastructure Global Resource Center
One of the best things about working with different policy organisations around the world is how much I get to learn myself. This was certainly the case when I teamed up with the International Institute for Sustainable Development to create an animation to help launch their new ‘Nature Based Infrastructure Global Resource Center.
The new NBI resource center is helping governments, investors and developers all over the world chart a path to a better more sustainable world by showing them why it makes sense to build with nature rather than against it.
Very often, nature-based solutions to infrastructure needs are more effective and less costly than the traditional ‘grey’ solutions policymakers are accustomed to developing. For instance, restored forests and wetlands can prevent flooding and replace wastewater treatment plants. There are myriad other examples where natural alternatives can outperform ‘grey’ options, but all too often investors and decision-makers don’t have the information they need to make the best choices. What’s more, NBI solutions also bring a host of other benefits, such as boosting biodiversity and tourism and providing recreation resources that in turn improve mental health.
The motion graphic I made for my friends at IISD was designed to explain the services provided by the new Global Resource Center, demonstrating both why nature-based infrastructure is so important and how the folks at IISD can support their key audiences in moving NBI projects forward. We opted to give the piece a warm, friendly aesthetic in order to make it feel accessible and welcoming (as it is explaining some seriously technical work!)
Along with the main animation presenting the Global Resource Center itself, we also created a shorter piece to explain the IISD’s methodological approach to valuing nature-based infrastructure projects, along with another output illustrating the ‘causal loop diagrams’ that form a key part of the GRC’s approach to analyzing and assessing nature-based infrastructure plans and proposals.
We all know that we’re living in a time where new innovative solutions must be found to make our societies more environmentally sustainable and ensure a better, greener future for both ourselves and future generations. The IISD’s Nature-Based Infrastructure Global Resource Center is an important contribution to tackling these challenges. Hopefully the animations we worked on together will make some teeny contribution to moving their work ahead.