Rising waters | Rooted solutions
From Ousewem to England: our benefits method goes national
Building directly on work first developed through Ousewem, read how the Environment Agency has taken our work forward nationally.
The Environment Agency has published a new method for estimating the benefits of natural flood management (NFM). This approach builds directly on work first developed through Ousewem and has now been taken forward nationally.
By making the method openly available, the Environment Agency aims to support early decision-making and prioritisation, enabling more NFM projects across England. It makes an important step towards making nature-based solutions a mainstream part of flood and coastal risk management.
For Ousewem, this is a clear example of local innovation shaping national practice. Our early work on benefits estimation has laid the groundwork for a tool that will influence projects far beyond North Yorkshire.
This builds on other recognition of Ousewem’s contribution, including the Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme mid-term report, which highlighted how the project is helping to test and advance new approaches. Explore how our modelling work is evolving to support practical decision-making.
Victoria Murray, Ousewem project manager, said:
It’s brilliant to see our local work inspiring and informing national practice. This is a real credit to the project team and partners, a great example of how collaboration can deliver impact far beyond the catchments where it started.
Read the Environment Agency’s research on estimating the benefits of natural flood management.
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