The paper Integrating dredging in sustainable development outlines the philosophy and concepts of sustainability and its application to water infrastructure projects focusing on practical issues for dredging. The paper is available free of charge.
Scope of the paper
Based on the Dredging for Sustainable Infrastructure (DfSI) book, IADC publishes a paper on Integrating dredging in sustainable development. It outlines the philosophy and concepts of sustainability and its application to water infrastructure projects focusing on practical issues for dredging.
Dredging is connected to several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as those related to navigation, coastal protection, and flood risk management. The dredging industry recognises the need to incorporate these goals into the infrastructure development process and communicate how projects align with the SDGs.
Content of the paper
A dredge is a tool. For hundreds of years this tool has been used to shape and manipulate the interface between land and water in order to support a variety of human activities, including navigation, coastal protection, flood risk management, as well as residential, commercial, agricultural and hydro-power development.
The use of dredging to achieve these purposes has always been guided by an understanding of the costs and benefits of applying the tool. However, in the last few decades the understanding of what constitutes costs and benefits has evolved substantially beyond the direct monetary costs of using the tool and the direct monetary benefits of what the tool was used to create. This evolution was aided by the environmental movement over the last 50 years, where the costs (in a broad sense) of applying the tool was expanded to include the negative environmental impacts that can be associated with dredging. Environmental regulations were put in place in an effort to minimise negative impacts on ecosystems caused by dredging activities, and for the last few decades dredging has been at the centre of a conflict, where the water meets the land, between groups supporting development and the environment. However, attitudes and approaches are changing.
IADC aims to inform the world about the fundamental need for dredging as well as advocating for an industry that makes the world a safer, better and more sustainable place to live. IADC introduced this paper to present the concept of sustainability in relation to dredging projects. It describes the approaches and practices that are key to using dredging and dredge material to create more sustainable solutions and infrastructure – a modern way of thinking about dredging.
