Upcoming events

Flooding: National problem, local solutions?

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Saturday 11 March 2017 2.30pm – 6.00pm, discussion and buffet, Rheged Centre, Redhills, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0DQ

Tickets:

Lecture only – £7
Please book in advance via the Rheged Centre T 017688 68000 (10.00am – 5.00pm open)
or book online W http://www.rheged.com/event/rgs

University students can claim a complimentary ticket by emailing 21cc@rgs.org

 

According to the Met Office heavy rainfall events have become more frequent in the UK in the last 50 years. The devastating floods of winter 2015 will become the new normal.

Policy-makers and institutions are currently in the midst of considering their responses and responsibilities in light of the publication of the Government’s National Flood Resilience Review. In the meantime, and in the face of increasing flood risk, communities across the UK are coming together to build resilience.

Do local knowledge and practices hold the key to finding solutions to living with the risk of flooding? How can communities and agencies best work together to combat future flood risk?

Taking Cumbria as a focal point, the Royal Geographical Society (with the IBG) will explore these issues during a public panel discussion held as part of the 21st Century Challenges series and regional programme with the help of the North West Committee.

Cumbria has suffered flooding repeatedly over the last decade, meaning Cumbrians have had to regroup, rebuild and develop new strategies to protect themselves. Following 2015’s Storm Desmond, the Cumbrian Floods Partnership was set up to bring together all those involved in and affected by flooding, and to identify additional flood protection measures required for the region. After a year in operation it is timely to reflect on the work being done and consider whether there are insights for the rest of the UK.

Are there local solutions to this national problem?

 

Chair and Panel

                                         The event will be chaired by Mike Zeller, Presenter of Mike Zeller at Breakfast on BBC Radio Cumbria

Mike mike-zeller-150-x-150Zeller presents Mike Zeller at Breakfast on BBC Radio Cumbria. A proud Cumbrian by birth, radio has taken Mike all over Britain, doing a multitude of different jobs at all hours of the day. In December 2015, Mike’s home was flooded by Storm Desmond and he had to be rescued by boat the following morning. However, he was back at work the following day, and a few days later, he hosted a special evening show for BBC Radio Cumbria entitled ‘Floodline’, which gave flood victims a chance to ring in, share their experiences and receive advice from experts.

 

 

                                            Dr Jenny Benson, Flood Fund Programme Manager, Cumbria Community Foundation 

Picture © Steven Barber

Jenny Benson is the Flood Fund Programme Manager at Cumbria Community Foundation (CCF). She is responsible for leading the development and delivery of the £10.3M Cumbria Flood Recovery Fund programme. The Fund was established, through a national fundraising appeal led by CCF, to support individuals, families and communities affected by the devastating December 2015 floods across Cumbria. A year after the floods over 2,700 flood affected households and 113 community groups across Cumbria have been supported.

                                 

                                            David Black, Chair of Roe Catchment Community Water Management Group

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David Black is Chair of the RCCWMG, which was set up in 2013 after the River Roe breached its banks and flooded a number of homes in the villages of Highbridge and Stockdalewath. The vision of the RCCWMG is to develop a collaborative relationship with Environment Agency and other stakeholders to deliver transformational change in the management of rural river catchments. Since its inception, villagers have united and have successfully co-ordinated river clearances, set up an emergency flood plan, obtained grant funding for a student and trialled natural flood management techniques with the Eden Rivers Trust.

                                      

 sue-cashmore-150x150Sue Cashmore BEM, Chair of Cockermouth Flood Action Group                          

Sue Cashmore is Chair of the CFAG, which was set up in response to the 2005 floods and works with the agencies responsible for flood prevention in the local area to achieve reductions to the flood risk. CFAG secured a £4.5 million flood alleviation scheme, completed in 2012, which included the first rising barrier within the UK. In 2013, Sue was awarded a British Empire Medal for her work with the Group.

                                     

                                            Adam Day, Founding-Member of Cumbria Farm Flood Action Group

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Adam Day is a founding-member of the Cumbria Farm Flood Action Group, which was established by a number of organisations, including The Farmer Network and the National Farmers Union (NFU), in the aftermath of Storm Desmond. The primary aim of the group is to ensure that farmers are supported from a business and welfare point of view. The group contacted all farmers in affected areas to find out what support they needed and to assess the extent of the damage. This information was gathered and analysed on behalf of the group by The Farmer Network, the NFU and Westmorland Agricultural Society, and used to inform the authorities about the scale of the support farmers require.

 

                                            Andy Brown, Flood & Coastal Risk Manager for Cumbria, Environment Agency

Carlisle Flood defence work. After the Cumbria Floods of 2015 the Environment Agency have been evaluating data gathered from the flood event and working out the best methods to help prevent flooding. Andy Brown from the Environment Agency: 11 July 2016 STUART WALKER 50084932F011.JPGAndy Brown is Flood and Coastal Risk Manager for Cumbria at the Environment Agency. He has worked there for 20 years in various roles and works between the Preston and Penrith offices. The Environment Agency is responsible for investing funding for flood and coastal risk management and working with local councils and water companies, amongst others, to put measures in place to protect people and property. A key part of Andy’s job is to build positive working relationships with communities at risk and to ensure work to tackle flood risk has the support of the local people involved.

 

                         Professor Alan Werritty, Emeritus Professor of Physical Geography, University of Dundee

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Alan Werritty is Professor Emeritus of Physical Geography, University of Dundee and former Research Director of Dundee’s UNESCO Centre for Research on Water, Law Policy and Science.  Alan’s current research focuses on climate change, flooding and societal responses to increased flood risk. With Dundee colleagues he has developed proxy methods to extend flood record series back several hundred years.  Since 2002 Alan has advised the Scottish Government on drafting and subsequently implementing the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2007.  He is currently organizing a Royal Society of Edinburgh Conference in March 2017 “How can we learn to live with floods? Challenges for science and management” reflecting on lessons to be learned in Scotland from the 2015/16 winter floods.  Alan is a Trustee of the Scottish Flood Forum.

 

Exhibitions from:

  • Slow the Flow project- Cumbria Wildlife Trust
  • Keswick Flood Action Group
  • Friends of the Lake District,
  • University of Cumbria
  • Lancaster University
  • Martin Hodgkiss (Environmental Documentary photographer)
  • Cumbria Community Foundation
  • Cockermouth Flood Action Group

 

Main Image credit: Brigsteer, Cumbria, S. Rae, flickr