Issues
Areas
Solutions
TRL Level
SRL Level
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We will provide an innovative inter-generational project, which aims to increase knowledge, capability and effectiveness in preparing for and responding to flooding in the Torbay area now and for the future.
• Responding to increasing risk of flooding – the increasing negative impacts of climate change are making major pluvial and coastal flooding events more likely; there is urgent need to respond to create resilience and minimise its consequences• Responding to government momentum around whole of society resilience (which lacks clarity on how to get there) – and which is likely to require significant buy-in from communities
• Gaps/lack of joined up initiatives engaging / supporting a whole community to reduce/mitigate/prepare for flooding – including training, resource, access to funding, knowledge-sharing, etc
• Insufficient knowledge from educators/teachers about flooding issues and how to integrate these effectively into the National Curriculum
• Disengagement/ lack of understanding among the youth about the impacts of flooding and about the role of the climate crisis in creating flooding situations, the risk to their community, and how they can become involved pro-actively in supporting initiatives
• Lack of knowledge and access to information/guidance for communities around the types of interventions they can utilise for increasing flood resilience e.g. SuDs, natural flood management approaches
See more information about this level and the TRL and SRL levels.
Engagement and Co-Creation Initiatives: Empower communities through initiatives addressing the climate crisis, co-designprojects, and micro-funding opportunities – through supporting communities to become aware of flooding as an issue pertinent to them, helping them to become able and confident to take action for themselves by accessing training, creating networks of support, creating emergency action plans, and implementing mitigation plans that can support in the introduction of measures/interventions. SuDs, which lead to a reduction in the likelihood/severity/impact of flooding incidents. Education and School-FocusedInnovations: Create curriculum packages for climate change education in schools and promote local environmental awareness –Groundwork has already developed a highly effective suite of environmental/ climate-change focused educational resources, which are able to easily link/ slot into the national curriculum. Through training teachers to better understand the issues they are talking about, and by providing ideas for lesson plans, we will help schools to more effectively communicate about climate change (with a specific focus on flooding), meaning children and young people will receive a fuller understanding of this issue from an earlier age. Connected with this, we will deliver our ‘Blue Influencers’ programme to young people aged 10-14, supporting children and young people to take action on the issues they have learned about in the classroom and helping them to expand their understanding and engagement with these issues through practical experiences.
Water Reuse and Rainwater Management: Explore community rainwater sharing, sustainable water use, and green/blue space strategies – We will share learning and resources about SuDS and natural flood management through our Communities Prepared element of this programme, supporting emergency volunteer groups to identify which interventions would be most appropriate for their local area. We will support them to apply for funding to install these. Similarly, young people in our Blue Influencers group will learn about the importance of water management and responsible water use and will be given the opportunity to undertake a social action in response to this e.g. building a rain garden which supports in preventing the overflow of watercourses in their school or local community.
Communities Prepared (CP): Originally a test and learn project, now developed through multiple phases over several years. We’ve learned through experience, gathering inputs and feedback from professionals (the EA, LRFs, voluntary sector orgs etc) and communities to adapt the programme to ensure it meets the needs of those it sets out to support. No other nationwide, multi-hazard, community focused initiative exists in the UK – which makes it both unique and innovative.
Green (and Blue) Influencers: These initiatives have developed through investment through the Ernest Cook Trust, who first identified the crucial funding need in green and blue youth skills development, and who have successively provided additional funding to support the delivery and development of this programme. The delivery method of this scheme has been supplemented by workshops and engagement events, which help to further synthesise the needs/wants/skills gaps in the community (both at youth-level and more widely).
SuDs: Groundwork has substantial experience in delivering SuDs and engaging communities in understanding and managing water systems. Recently, a new training resource ‘Water, Pollution and People’ has been produced for disseminating knowledge and building engagement in schools.
Limited community interest could affect the impact of this work, but is unlikely and is something we’re very experienced in overcoming. We have substantial community links in Torbay already, both through our previous Communities Prepared work and through our existing close engagement with Torbay communities. We are a member organisation of the Torbay VCSE Alliance, through which we will promote this service. We will utilise our sector-specific relationships to promote this work and create community buy-in e.g. the British Red Cross, Environment Agencies, Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme, etc. The increased competition for funding in the UK due to the ongoing financial impacts of the pandemic and the economic downtown/cost of living crisis may mean that sourcing funding for flood management interventions e.g SuDS, natural flood management, may be more difficult. This in may impact the ability of the communities to actually implement resilience infrastructure; however, we will work closely with the community, providing the expertise of our fundraising and development team, and making use of our existing relationships with funders/ local authorities etc to make the case for why these crucial interventions should be invested in.
We will provide an innovative inter-generational project, which aims to increase knowledge, capability and effectiveness in preparing for and responding to flooding in the Torbay area now and for the future.
• Responding to increasing risk of flooding – the increasing negative impacts of climate change are making major pluvial and coastal flooding events more likely; there is urgent need to respond to create resilience and minimise its consequences• Responding to government momentum around whole of society resilience (which lacks clarity on how to get there) – and which is likely to require significant buy-in from communities
• Gaps/lack of joined up initiatives engaging / supporting a whole community to reduce/mitigate/prepare for flooding – including training, resource, access to funding, knowledge-sharing, etc
• Insufficient knowledge from educators/teachers about flooding issues and how to integrate these effectively into the National Curriculum
• Disengagement/ lack of understanding among the youth about the impacts of flooding and about the role of the climate crisis in creating flooding situations, the risk to their community, and how they can become involved pro-actively in supporting initiatives
• Lack of knowledge and access to information/guidance for communities around the types of interventions they can utilise for increasing flood resilience e.g. SuDs, natural flood management approaches
The main components of the system have been tested separately, and an initial integration exercise has been conducted.
Engagement and Co-Creation Initiatives: Empower communities through initiatives addressing the climate crisis, co-designprojects, and micro-funding opportunities – through supporting communities to become aware of flooding as an issue pertinent to them, helping them to become able and confident to take action for themselves by accessing training, creating networks of support, creating emergency action plans, and implementing mitigation plans that can support in the introduction of measures/interventions. SuDs, which lead to a reduction in the likelihood/severity/impact of flooding incidents. Education and School-FocusedInnovations: Create curriculum packages for climate change education in schools and promote local environmental awareness –Groundwork has already developed a highly effective suite of environmental/ climate-change focused educational resources, which are able to easily link/ slot into the national curriculum. Through training teachers to better understand the issues they are talking about, and by providing ideas for lesson plans, we will help schools to more effectively communicate about climate change (with a specific focus on flooding), meaning children and young people will receive a fuller understanding of this issue from an earlier age. Connected with this, we will deliver our ‘Blue Influencers’ programme to young people aged 10-14, supporting children and young people to take action on the issues they have learned about in the classroom and helping them to expand their understanding and engagement with these issues through practical experiences.
Water Reuse and Rainwater Management: Explore community rainwater sharing, sustainable water use, and green/blue space strategies – We will share learning and resources about SuDS and natural flood management through our Communities Prepared element of this programme, supporting emergency volunteer groups to identify which interventions would be most appropriate for their local area. We will support them to apply for funding to install these. Similarly, young people in our Blue Influencers group will learn about the importance of water management and responsible water use and will be given the opportunity to undertake a social action in response to this e.g. building a rain garden which supports in preventing the overflow of watercourses in their school or local community.
Communities Prepared (CP): Originally a test and learn project, now developed through multiple phases over several years. We’ve learned through experience, gathering inputs and feedback from professionals (the EA, LRFs, voluntary sector orgs etc) and communities to adapt the programme to ensure it meets the needs of those it sets out to support. No other nationwide, multi-hazard, community focused initiative exists in the UK – which makes it both unique and innovative.
Green (and Blue) Influencers: These initiatives have developed through investment through the Ernest Cook Trust, who first identified the crucial funding need in green and blue youth skills development, and who have successively provided additional funding to support the delivery and development of this programme. The delivery method of this scheme has been supplemented by workshops and engagement events, which help to further synthesise the needs/wants/skills gaps in the community (both at youth-level and more widely).
SuDs: Groundwork has substantial experience in delivering SuDs and engaging communities in understanding and managing water systems. Recently, a new training resource ‘Water, Pollution and People’ has been produced for disseminating knowledge and building engagement in schools.
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