Rising waters | Rooted solutions
Flood Action Week: Building flood resilience
Flood Action Week is a timely reminder for communities across the Yorkshire and the UK to consider, not just how to react to flooding, but how to proactively build resilience.
From 14 October 2024, the Environment Agency is urging people to prepare for flooding; their campaign 'Flood action' via GOV.UK/prepare-for-flooding helps everyone to:
- check their flood risk in a storm
- sign up for warnings
- check long term flood risk
While immediate responses to storms are crucial, there’s an even greater opportunity for all of us to focus on long-term, preventative measures to mitigate the impact of flooding.
At Ousewem, we’re dedicated to this very mission - ensuring that flood resilience becomes a priority for Yorkshire communities. Our focus on sustainable nature-based solutions (NbS), including natural flood management (NFM), showcases the importance of looking ahead, building not just immediate defences but long-term resilience.
A changing climate, a growing risk
Climate change and land management changes are resulting in rising flood risks. With around 5.5 million homes and businesses at risk of flooding across England, the need for flood resilience has never been clearer. Flood Action Week, the Environment Agency’s annual awareness campaign, is the perfect moment to reflect on how we can better protect our communities.
For Ousewem, this means addressing the root causes of flood risk - like land use and water management. Ousewem is part of the £200 million flood and coastal resilience innovation programmes, managed by the Environment Agency. We are one of 25 projects driving innovation in flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to a changing climate. The evidence we collect as part of the flood and coastal resilience innovation programme will shape the future of flood risk management. It will allow targeting of funding to where it can have the greatest impact on reducing the consequences of flooding and coastal change for people, infrastructure, the economy and the environment. We are getting ready for the unavoidable impacts of climate change by adapting and helping the nation to become more resilient.
Resilience begins at home
The Environment Agency defines resilience as “the capacity of people and places to plan for, better protect, respond to, and to recover from flooding and coastal change. Places can achieve this by making the best land use and development choices, better protecting people and places, and, responding to and recovering from flooding and coastal change, whilst all the time adapting to climate change.“
Signs with QR codes power location-based digital assistants in public places, to better connect people, place and information and support 2-way conversations.
For Ousewem, building resilience is about communities coming together. We are familiarising people with flood-related terminology, enhancing awareness about NFM, and working with farmers to explore potential participation in projects on their lands. Through our friendly 2-way conversations, our aim is to gain a better understanding of community knowledge, observe changes in sentiment, and gauge attitudes towards flooding and resilience in the area.
We are also collaborating with projects like Rivers2U to help to educate young people and local residents on how rivers work, the benefits of NbS and NFM, and how sustainable drainage systems can be part of the solution.
Nature: Our ally in building resilience
Ousewem is also committed to the environmental benefits of flood resilience. By harnessing the power of nature, we’re improving the health of our rivers and slowing the flow of water through NbS, including NFM. This reduces the pressure on downstream communities and enhances the beauty and vitality of Yorkshire’s landscapes.
From the tranquil rural areas to the bustling streets of York, our efforts are working to leave a lasting legacy. We’re proud to be building partnerships, fostering investment, and creating a strategy that will deliver improved flood resilience not just for today, but for future generations.
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