People symbols

After

Adaptive mesh simulation of different scale flood inundation

Newcastle University

October 2008 – March 2012

This project assessed and improved the computer modelling of flood flows that can adapt to local topography and obstruction, efficiently generating accurate solution even where the flow is very complex. This will mean that very accurate simulation can be applied at a range of different scales (from small to very large), including broad scale interactions of flood flow. This adaptive model is applied simulate large-scale real world flood scenarios. Particularly, the model will allow simulation of very large scale flood inundation (e.g. the whole Thames Estuary area) whilst also resolving the effect of local flows at flood defences. This research is for the benefit of engineering consultants and insurance business involving assessment and management of flood risk. The Environment Agency and local authorities will benefit in that larger scale flood simulation and related risk analysis resulting from this work will provide further information for better flood risk management and alleviation. This will in turn benefit the general public in terms of flood risk reduction and improved communication of flood risk.

Research Council: EPSRC

Blue-Green Cities: Delivering and evaluating multiple flood risk benefits

University of Nottingham

2013–2016

Blue-Green infrastructure aimed to increase understanding of people’s perceptions and provide a methodology for the robust evaluation of the multiple functionalities of Blue-Green infrastructure which demonstrates the relative significance of benefits in context specific locations. This tool compliments CIRIA BeST (Benefits of SuDS Tool), and the team are now embarking on a new EPSRC-funded research project – Achieving Urban Flood Resilience in an Uncertain Future

Research Council: EPSRC

Can ‘Flood Re’ increase the resilience of small businesses? Investigating flood insurance and other strategies to move forward

University of Leeds

April 2016

Financial protection against flood risk has been recognised a way to protect assets and livelihoods. However, concerns exist about the affordability of cover in high risk areas. Flood Re, a scheme were premiums are subsidised, were created to help households, but excludes micro-businesses, small businesses, charities and co-operatives in high-risk flood areas. The objective of this project is to improve our understanding of flood insurance for SMEs, and to establish if SMEs have flood insurance problems, and if so, how they could be overcome and which other risk management strategies could be available for SMEs. By doing so, the project will contribute to the development of a flood protection policy framework that increase the resilience of this backbone of the economy.

Research Council: ESRC

Creative resilience through community imaginings

Northumbria University

February 2013 – May 2013

Evidence suggests that environmental crisis narratives, rather than spur people to take action, prompt feelings of anxiety, helplessness and disempowerment. Ultimately these narratives may serve to foster apathy and denial, discouraging people from considering alternatives or taking control. Behaviour change interventions, also aimed at encouraging environmentally-considerate behaviour, have tended to ignore concerns about status, ethical values and beliefs, identity, quality of life and fun, thereby stripping life of much that people value. This project addresses the need for a step-change in society’s notion of everyday life (ie the small achievements and intuitions that provide our compass) to take account of a future with distinctly different environment, opportunities, and states of uncertainty.

Research Council: AHRC

Damp, moisture and mould

UCL Centre for Moisture in Buildings

2015

Buildings are exposed to multiple water sources, such as rain, ground water and flooding on the outside, and breathing, cooking, showering, water leaks and many other activities inside. The UK Centre for Moisture in Buildings focuses on the causes, mechanisms and solutions to moisture problems. Research is now an urgent requirement for this country, its building owners and occupiers, and the construction (and maintenance) industry.

Research Council: Various

Digital tool for SME flood adaptation

University of the West of England

December 2012 – June 2016

A digital e-learning tool that encourages flood risk adaptation amongst SMEs. This interactive Web-2 app allows users to communicate with other businesses, share their views and experiences, access key resources and learn from a range of people who have flood experience or expertise. Business people shared their learning about how to run a business in a flood risk area, and on different aspects of their adaptive strategies. The storytelling process was found to encourage critical reflections on business adaptation, decision making and experiential learning that could be usefully shared with other small businesses.

Research Council: EPSRC

Impact of type of building on drying time

University College London

2012

Risk exposure reduction and preparedness measures inevitably vary with the nature of the SME business. SMEs returning to premises after a flood event have to go through short-term emergency reaction, and prioritisation of remediation. Flood damage to such premises can hinder recovery, for instance, the type and construction of a building may significantly alter its ability to dry during a flood. There are also health risks to operating in damp, flooded buildings.

Research Council: EPSRC

Increasing Civil Society’s capacity to deal with changing extreme weather risk: negotiating dichotomies in theory and practice

University of the West of England

January 2017 – December 2019

UK government approaches to the management of increasing extreme weather risk have shifted since the mid-1990s from a top-down centrally imposed model to devolved responsibility where Civil Society (CS) is a key player. This seminar series aims to critically examine the changing role of CS in Extreme Weather Adaptation (preparation, recovery, prevention, mitigation, evaluation). Businesses, particularly SMEs, will have the opportunity to reflect on how they can embed within community networks and have a mutually supportive role in community resilience planning within the EWAC.

Research Council: ESRC

Public perceptions of climate change in the immediate aftermath of major national flooding

Cardiff University

June 2014 – June 2015

The relationship between extreme weather and public attitudes is complex and still little understood. Reading across the evidence from both the national sample and those directly affected, our findings indicate that a significant association between the winter flooding of 2013/14 and climate change did indeed form in the British public mind both during and immediately after these events. 

Research Council: ESRC