The future of resilient infrastructure may depend as much on working with nature as it does on engineering around it. Traditionally, engineers have relied heavily on gray infrastructure: constructed systems such as pipes, culverts, channels, dams, and stormwater facilities designed to perform specific engineering functions.
Increasingly, however, those systems are being paired with green infrastructure that works with natural processes to manage water, reduce risk, and strengthen the surrounding environment.
Nature-based solutions are an important part of that shift toward integrating gray and green infrastructure. As Carlos Rogeliz, Technical Director of the N4W Facility at The Nature Conservancy, explained during a recent Autodesk University 2026 session, nature-based solutions are more than conservation projects or landscape features.
From an engineering perspective, they are infrastructure interventions that use natural processes to produce measurable outcomes. Solutions such as riparian restoration, bioswales, constructed wetlands, and floodplain restoration can reduce runoff, improve water quality, store floodwaters, restore ecosystems, and generate additional environmental benefits.
“The key takeaway is simple: nature-based solutions don’t replace conventional infrastructure; they complement it, making our infrastructure systems more resilient and sustainable,” stated Rogeliz. By integrating gray and green infrastructure, civil teams can design systems that meet traditional engineering requirements while delivering benefits that a single-purpose intervention may not provide.
The future of resilient infrastructure may depend as much on working with nature as it does on engineering around it.
As Rogeliz later explained, “Engineers already know how to design infrastructure. The challenge is not [about] knowing how to design a solution. It’s about knowing where, why, and which nature-based solution will make the greatest impact.”
That challenge becomes even more complex at the watershed level, where the greatest value can come from strategically connecting multiple interventions across the landscape. During his Autodesk University session, “Integrating Nature-Based Solutions in Civil 3D,” Rogeliz demonstrated how The Nature Conservancy is using advanced design tools to bridge watershed-scale analysis and site-level engineering to create green infrastructure.
Traditional vs. Integrated infrastructure approach
For decades, the traditional approach to infrastructure has centered on gray infrastructure and the individual asset being designed. As Rogeliz highlighted, “The traditional workflow that most of us know well [begins] with gray infrastructure, [focuses] on designing the individual assets and then [moves] into construction, a process that has delivered successful infrastructure projects for decades.”
That said, as projects are increasingly expected to address resilience, water management, environmental health, and community needs simultaneously, the scope of that process is expanding. As stated by Rogeliz, “The integrated approach…doesn’t replace that workflow; it expands it.”
That expansion starts by looking beyond the boundaries of the individual asset. Rather than beginning solely with the infrastructure that needs to be built, an integrated approach begins at the watershed level, examining how water, ecosystems, terrain, and other characteristics of the surrounding landscape influence both the project and the challenges it is intended to address.
“The key takeaway is simple: nature-based solutions don’t replace conventional infrastructure; they complement it, making our infrastructure systems more resilient and sustainable” –Carlos Rogeliz
As Rogeliz explained, “Instead of focusing only on the asset, we also begin with the watershed, understanding how the landscape influences the performance and resilience of the infrastructure we are about to design.”
Those watershed insights can then inform engineering decisions that account for more than a single project objective. According to Rogeliz, this approach can lead to solutions that “optimize multiple benefits,” resulting in infrastructure that performs its intended function while also supporting “greater resilience, healthier ecosystems, and stronger communities.” In this model, nature-based solutions become part of a larger infrastructure strategy rather than standalone conservation or restoration efforts.
The challenge is translating those broader opportunities into projects that can actually be engineered and constructed. Rogeliz emphasized that many nature-based solutions, “…require the same level of engineering rigor as traditional infrastructure,” yet a critical gap can exist before detailed design begins: determining where to invest, which interventions are most effective, and why one alternative should be pursued over another. Connecting those early watershed-level decisions with the engineering process is what allows an integrated approach to move from strategy to constructible infrastructure.
Connecting watershed intelligence to engineering design
Later in the discussion, Rogeliz posed a simple question: “So how do we design infrastructure that works with nature?” For The Nature Conservancy, part of the answer lies in connecting watershed-scale planning with detailed engineering design.
According to Rogeliz, the process begins with WaterProof, The Nature Conservancy’s watershed intelligence platform. Designed for pre-feasibility planning rather than detailed engineering, WaterProof combines environmental, hydrologic, and socioeconomic data to identify where nature-based solutions could have the greatest impact. As Rogeliz explained, “WaterProof doesn’t replace engineering design. It provides the intelligence that allows engineers to start their projects with better information.”
By connecting watershed intelligence with detailed engineering, civil teams can bring nature-based solutions into the infrastructure design process with greater confidence.
To carry that information into the engineering process, The Nature Conservancy developed a dedicated WaterProof–InfraWorks connector. As Rogeliz went on to explain, the connector imports flood maps and nature-based solution portfolios into Autodesk InfraWorks while preserving their geographic references, allowing engineers to visualize proposed interventions alongside roads, buildings, bridges, and other existing infrastructure. “Rather than looking at maps on a desktop, InfraWorks allow[s] us to immerse ourselves in the landscape,” stated Rogeliz.
From there, projects can move into Civil 3D for detailed engineering. Engineers can define grading, corridors, pipe networks, profiles and sections, calculate earthworks, and produce construction documentation. According to Rogeliz, this is the point where, “…the nature-based solution is no longer a planning concept; it has become an engineered asset.”
As Rogeliz continued, that workflow can extend further through Revit, where reusable parametric components can help engineers adapt nature-based solutions to specific project conditions, and 3ds Max, where engineering models can become visualizations for communicating proposed designs to non-engineering stakeholders. Together, the tools provide a pathway for carrying watershed intelligence from early planning through detailed design and ultimately toward implementation.
By connecting watershed intelligence with detailed engineering, civil teams can bring nature-based solutions into the infrastructure design process with greater confidence. The result is a more integrated approach that combines the strengths of gray and green infrastructure for a more sustainable future.
