Innovations in Soil Water Bioengineering: A Stakeholder Perception Assessment

Integrating Soil and Water Bioengineering (SWBE) and Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) represents a historical and advanced approach to addressing complex environmental issues. In particular, SWBE, as NBS, solutions aim to mitigate the occurrence and propagation of hydrogeological hazards. Techniques involving plants, and locally available materials, like timber and stone, have characterized land management since past times, guided by practical experience and necessity. In recent decades, we started rediscovering these techniques by including them in the definition of SWBE. This study explores the current knowledge and perceptions of practitioners, such as engineers, architects, geologists, agronomists-foresters, and naturalists, regarding practices defined as SWBE by recent legislation and scientific literature. A questionnaire will be distributed through different communication channels to achieve this goal, mainly targeting the professional association of interest. The questionnaire consists of three sections: i) collecting the stakeholders’ biographical information, ii) investigating knowledge of the basic concepts and interpretation of SWBE and NBS techniques, and iii) discussing critical issues, possible improvements, and future perspectives in applying SWBE and NBS. The results of this study provide a framework that leads to a deeper understanding of how SWBE and NBS are understood outside the academic environments, fostering more significant interaction between technical application and theoretical development. Analyzing similarities and divergences between the state of the art, current practices, and stakeholder perceptions is crucial, thus helping identify gaps and bringing out new frontiers of innovation within SWBE.