New Standards to address greenwashing in carbon farming

Urgently needed report could be pivotal in preventing greenwashing in farm soil carbon projects Environment Agency funded consortium lays out minimum requirements for UK soil carbon projects  Requirements should unlock investment for farmers and support a scalable, high-integrity market for farm soil carbon  The prospect of a scalable, high-integrity market for farm soil carbon took an important … Read more

Tackling the challenges of surface water flooding

It was a perfect day on Thursday 17 November to be discussing how new surface water flood forecasts could help support resilient decision making.  The heavy rain was a timely reminder of the challenges surface water flooding brings and we had a fantastic turnout at the University of Leeds for our joint workshop with the … Read more

NEW RESEARCH WILL IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF UK RIVERS

Most UK rivers fail to meet good ecological status Scientists will: create new tools for monitoring freshwater pollution; study how river ecosystems are impacted by effluent, microplastics, chemicals and land management practices; support the development of new strategies to improve river water quality in the UK that will take account of climate change £8.4 million … Read more

WY FLIP – Working together to get results

Tangible results are starting to be achieved by the West Yorkshire Flood Innovation Programme (WY FLIP) just a year after it was first launched. Partners have joined together to bid for extra funds for their region to make it more resilient to flooding and climate change. An example to illustrate how their collaborative ways of … Read more

Opportunity for Artists to reflect restoration at Great North Bog, in the north of England

The Great North Bog, United Kingdom, is one of six Action Sites included in WaterLANDS – a five year European Union Green Deal funded project which aims to restore damaged wetlands across Europe and lay the foundations for protection across larger areas. We are looking for artists to engage with the site, the restoration team … 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.

Post graduates help kickstart Flood Innovation Programme with a roadmap

Mariam Zaqout Zora Van Leeuwen Two post graduate researchers from water@leeds, Mariam Zaqout and Zora Van Leeuwen, are helping to shape the future direction of an innovative project to reduce the impact of flooding and climate change in West Yorkshire with the development of an action plan. They have joined the Yorkshire Integrated Catchment Solutions … Read more

‘Unusual suspects’ urged to join flagship programme to reduce flood risk across the region

If you work in health, finance, transport, planning, water resource management or the third sector we would like you to work with us to drive forward a new innovative programme to reduce the impact of flooding and climate change across West Yorkshire. We are hosting two workshops and would like to involve partners from a … Read more

Free course to help businesses enter the growing property flood resilience market

Businesses across the Yorkshire and Humber region are being offered FREE places on an online course aimed at helping them to benefit from the opportunities available in the growing property flood resilience sector. It is being run by the Flood Innovation Centre at the University of Hull starting on 7 December for five weeks on … Read more