Post by DHI

As coastal cities respond to growing risks from sea level rise, flooding and erosion, attention often focuses on large-scale protection infrastructure. But coastal resilience is not just an engineering challenge – it also depends on how well we understand and work with natural systems. At the Singapore International Water Week (SIWW), DHI shared two perspectives on what it takes to deliver reliable, long-term coastal resilience. Holly Siow, Head of Ecology at DHI Singapore, highlighted how coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs, mudflats and seagrasses play a key role in attenuating wave energy, stabilising shorelines and supporting ecosystem functions. In her presentation, Holly emphasised that resilience is not the same as resistance, and discussed the importance of safeguarding the intrinsic ability of these ecosystems to adapt, recover and sustain coastal processes, while ensuring coastal protection measures do not compromise their role in driving long-term resilience. At the same time, DHI’s coastal engineer Ahmed Mohamed Mansoor explored the role of coastal modelling in decision-making. He discussed how climate risks are reshaping coastal conditions across Singapore and Southeast Asia, with models increasingly used to inform where to build, how to design and what risks to plan for. However, reliable outcomes depend not only on the tools themselves, but on how they are applied. At DHI, this is supported by strong modelling capabilities combined with global expertise and local knowledge in coastal processes, ensuring results are both scientifically robust and practically relevant. -------------------------------- As coastal adaptation efforts accelerate globally, integrating engineering, ecology and climate resilience will be critical to delivering sustainable long-term outcomes. We look forward to continuing these conversations at SIWW 2026. 📍 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗟𝟭-𝗔𝟭𝟵, 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗔, 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗼 & 𝗘𝘅𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲, 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗕𝗮𝘆 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀. #SIWW2026 #coastalmodelling #coastalprotection