Intertidal Engine

Abu Dhabi rapid development and the techniques employed for the construction of artificial islands has negatively impacted its coastal ecosystems. As a consequence, the government of Abu Dhabi financed Abu Dhabi Blue Carbon Project: An online open-source interactive web-based interface dedicated to its marine ecosystem. The platform supports an online community bridging social media (twitter), the general public and the academic community. It also offers  a tool to download GIS data about the different types of marine ecosystems existing in the area as well as to measure the carbon sequestration capacity they have.

Intertidal Engine is a research project that aims to bring this initiative forward and explore how can these approaches evolve into projective instruments. It does so by proposing a material system of sand disposal and restoration of natural habitats that continuously interacts with the coastal dynamics. This implies that, on the one hand, the intertidal forces will continuously reshape the new islands’ morphologies and, on the other, the existing ecosystems become active players in the design process.

Based on the principle of relational construction of space time and value, an interactive dynamic interface is proposed as a governance tool to engage the different actors in the decision making processes. In that sense, the tool recognizes both human as well as non-human agencies as legitimate stakeholders in the decision making process. The proposed governance instrument is a cap and trade system. This policy instrument allows for flexibility and trade between human actors while maintaining their compromise with existing ecosystems and their ecological service they provide.  That means that the ecosystem carbon sequestration capacity must be maintained at all times; leaving human actors the space to negotiate its location and the responsibility to guarantee its own survival.