July 2022 Site Visit to Hardcastle Crags & the Role of the Community in Delivering NFM – hosted by Mott MacDonald

The Summer meeting of the Yorkshire NFM Community of Practice (CoP) was held in-person at Hardcastle Crags. The day involved a tour of the NFM interventions on the site and a discussion around community resilience to flooding and how the community can be involved in NFM. As with previous events, the day was split into … Read more

Confluence 2022

Don’t miss our exciting annual event Confluence 2022 to showcase the many exciting projects we are working on and the impact they are having in the region. This will be in-person on Thursday 22 September, 9am – 4.15pm, in the Nexus Building, Discovery Way, at the University of Leeds campus. We would also like you … Read more

Summer bulletin 2022

Welcome to the Summer edition of our quarterly newsletter. You can now sign up for our exciting Annual Confluence which will be held this Autumn when we will share our news and have lively debates about the burning issues and catchment priorities for you across the region. Enjoy reading our Bulletin, if you have any suggestions for … Read more

iCASP works with academics at University of Leeds to shape new NFM Manual

New guidance to drive the implementation of natural flood management (NFM) has just been published by CIRIA working with Mott MacDonald. The manual will provide a road map for nature based solutions project setting out the key stages of delivery from initiating a scheme and understanding the interests of local people to selecting, designing and … Read more

MPs urged to take more action against INNS

Research shows that the threat from invasive non-native species (INNS) is growing and causing a huge impact on  biodiversity, increasing the risk of flooding and costing the UK billions of pounds each year. Biosecurity measures can be adopted to prevent the introduction and spread of INNS. INNS, or invasive alien species, are those that are … Read more

April 2022 – Site Visit Brownlee Centre, reconnecting event at Weetwood Hall

After two years of meeting online, this event provided members with an opportunity to come together to reconnect and network on NFM activities after the pandemic, and to look forward and shape future activities of the group. It was split into two sessions Session 1 – Site visit to see NFM installations at the Brownlee … Read more

Positive feedback on our flood engagement sessions

We are delighted to be getting really positive feedback on our flood engagement exercises and bookings from national, regional and local teams.

Our first face-to-face exercise was held with incident management staff who work with Leeds City Council.

This is what Carl Fisher and Ian Hope took away from the day – we captured their thoughts on video

Some of the other positive comments we have receieved are:-

“The scenarios really encouraged me to remember to think about flood events from different perspectives.”

“Really enjoyed the session and how engaging it was. Definitely worth it! I thought the discussions around it were great and the facilitating was done really well.”

“I learnt a lot about the most effective communication and how challenging it can be to get right. I think there are a lot of takeaways for the incident team to put into practice that we possibly haven’t come across or thought as deeply about before. It will definitely help to start those conversations and I’d encourage anyone involved in incidents to participate.”

“I will take away the importance of tailoring engagement to the target demographic but also considering people in the minority/margins, using a consistent, clear approach.”

“The facilitators created a great, inclusive environment. The number of participants was good (not too small or large) and the realistic but fictitious scenario made it easy to relate to, while allowing you to think differently and consider a range of factors.”

The exercise is part of a project we are delivering working with partners to improve communications about flood risk using engagement tools.

Our aim is to support Risk Management Authorities to engage more effectively with their communities, increasing resilience to flood risk and the impact of climate change.

We are delivering the free sessions for groups of flood wardens, teams who work in incident management, community groups and anyone interested in communicating better during flood events.

Bookings have now been extended until the summer and can be made online , so do get in touch if you have a group that would like to take part. It’s fun, interactive and opens your eyes to new challenges.

Spring bulletin 2022

Welcome to the Spring edition of our quarterly newsletter. We are delighted to confirm that iCASP has been extended by the Natural Environment Research Council for an additional year and will now run until at least 31 January 2024. Yorkshire was recently hit by three back-to-back storms within a week. This is a stark reminder of how … Read more