Connectivity, Collaboration & The Economy

We are entering a period in which infrastructure, mobility, and nature are becoming more interconnected than ever before. Demand for the efficient movement of people, goods and energy continues to rise, while climate change and biodiversity loss expose the physical and financial weaknesses of our existing infrastructure networks. These pressures are accelerating, and require a fundamental shift in how we plan, deliver, maintain, phase out and/ or adapt infrastructure. This shift starts with recognising that resilient and sustainable infrastructure depends on healthy natural systems.

Achieving nature‑neutral or even nature‑positive transport systems cannot rely on mitigation alone. It requires recognising ecological limits, reducing severance, avoiding development in sensitive areas, and embracing approaches that reduce demand and prevent irreversible impacts. At the same time, we must scale up the solutions that already work: effective mitigation, ecological connectivity, retrofitting, and nature‑based design at landscape and network scales. These actions must be informed by robust ecological evidence, long‑term monitoring, and a clear understanding of where mitigation succeeds and where it cannot replace intact ecosystems.

The IENE 2026 Conference in Bristol will bring these perspectives together under “The Value of Nature in Resilient Infrastructure.” We will explore how ecological and social values can meaningfully shape infrastructure planning; how innovative financing can support infrastructure that is robust, adaptive, and aligned with the needs of both people and wildlife; how climate resilience emerges from functioning ecosystems and connected landscapes; how effective measures can be delivered rapidly and at scale; how infrastructure must operate within ecological limits; and how competing visions of the future from technology‑driven growth to sufficiency‑oriented transitions shape decisions.

The Bristol conference is not the conclusion, it is the next step in a growing movement to embed nature and people at the heart of resilient infrastructure worldwide