Floods, Carbon, Water Quality and Ecology – Redesigning Peatland Restoration for Multiple Benefits

Would you like to develop your knowledge about how to redesign peatland restoration to have multiple benefits?

These include

• reducing flood risk
• improving water quality
• restoring ecology
• and increasing carbon sequestration.

We are running a free online Blue-Green Infrastructure Training session as part of the West Yorkshire Flood Innovation Programme (WYFLIP), which aims to address an urgent need for better skills in flood risk management & climate resilience across Yorkshire.

📍 Online, via Microsoft Teams

📅 Tuesday 3rd March 2026 | 12:00 – 14:00

The Blue Green Infrastructure training programme is a West Yorkshire Flood Innovation Programme (FLIP) project that aims to address an urgent need for better skills in flood risk management and climate resilience across Yorkshire. 

There is a critical gap in capacity and skills, which is a risk to the delivery of flood reduction and resilience benefits in the region. At the same time, there are new demands from the Flood and Water Management Act Schedule 3 – Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) requirements, climate adaptation plans and for green skills associated with climate resilience and readiness.

The work is funded by the Yorkshire Regional Flood and Coastal Committee (YRFCC) and will deliver a pilot training programme administered by iCasp and water@leeds at the University of Leeds. For more information on the work of the West Yorkshire Flood Innovation Programme, please click here.

Yorkshire has around 75000 hectares of peatlands, and they are the region’s most important surface carbon store, the most important source areas for drinking water and have the potential to reduce flood risk when managed appropriately. This session seeks to outline the evidence for benefits derived from peatland restoration, showing how the design of particular restoration features plays a key role and that we need to take a large landscape-scale approach to maximise economic, societal and environmental outcomes.

• To have a basic understanding of the current evidence on how peatland management impacts flooding
• To be able to describe key controls on peatland carbon storage and release
• To describe, at a basic level, how peatland management can influence water quality and freshwater ecology
• To be able to list the main peatland restoration techniques and what factors need to be considered to maximise their flood, carbon, water quality and ecology benefits.

This event is aimed at those working in local government teams with a responsibility for flood risk management or teams looking to upskill in the area. Teams within the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water can also access this training. Due to the nature of our funding, attendees must be working in the Yorkshire region.

Capacity will be reserved for employees or volunteers with local Rivers Trusts or Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Please contact [email protected] for further information on place availability.