FCERM.net January 2016 News

Welcome to 2016!

Dear Colleagues,

The end of 2015, and the beginning of 2016 has yet again seen flooding and Flood Risk Management in the media spotlight, and our community network of Flood Risk Managers, policy makers and researchers continues to grow.  In this coming year we hope to bring you events, activities, tools, resources and news that will be of practical value and use to you in your FRM role.

Our top picks of news and events this month are:

Plus more news, events and vacancies.  We hope you enjoy this edition of FCERM.net news.

News from the Community

UK December Rainfall breaks Riverflow Records

The prolonged, intense rainfall falling across northern Britain  as a result of storms Desmond, Eva and Frank in December contributed to substantial rainfall totals, and exacerbated the conditions on already saturated soils.  As a result,  ‘More water flowed out of UK rivers into the ocean during one day last month than ever before’ according to an article by New Scientist and led to widespread flooding across the country. 

New Flood Risk Management Plans Launched in Scotland

A six year plan to protect homes, businesses and communities from flooding has been launched by the Scottish Government.  The release of the National Flood Risk Management Plan marked the second phase of implementing the EU Floods directive. 

Local Flood Risk Management Plans have been developed in parallel and will provide additional local detail for Local Authorities and other Flood Risk Management organisations for implementation in June 2016.

Water Crises and Climate Change rated in top risks list by World Economic Forum

A report by the World Economic Forum, Global Risks 2016, has rated water crisis as one of the top three perceived ‘most impactful’ risks. The potential for climate change to exacerbate water crises,  was also considered the top ‘cascading risk’ with impacts including conflicts and forced migration, calling for improved water governance to adapt to climate change and accommodate a growing population and economic development.

Events

FCERM.net Community Webinar - Paul Cobbing, National Flood Forum

Date: 29th February

Venue: On-line

Details: Our on-line community webinar will be delivered by Paul Cobbing from the National Flood Forum proving an insight into the complex issues facing communities who have been flooded.

More information and booking

 

Flood Risk Management 2016 - Celebrating Scotland’s changing mindset to flood risk management

Date: February 3rd & 4th

Venue: Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh

Details: Sniffer's annual Flood Risk Management Conference 2016 will gather the flood risk management community in Scotland to take stock of where we are with transforming flood risk management in Scotland, and what we need to do next to realise the potential of the Act’s coordinated approach.  The conference will ask:

  • What have we achieved?
  • What has changed?
  • Where do we need to do more?

 

. The event is now sold out but output will be archived on the Sniffer and FCERM.net websites

 

Flood and Coast 2016

Date: February 23rd-25th

Venue: Telford International Centre

Details: Led by the Environment Agency, Flood & Coast 2016 is a new conference and exhibition bringing together local authorities, infrastructure owners, consultancies, contractors, businesses, community groups and universities to facilitate the exchange of innovation and best practice across the FCRM sector.

More information and registration

 

Dissemination Workshop - Improving flood resilience: The Blue-Green Advantage

Date: February 18th

Venue: Newcastle Centre for Life

Details: Over the past three years, the Blue-Green Cities team from nine leading Universities have researched cutting edge techniques for advancing Blue-Green approaches,  in parallel, local partners including Newcastle City Council, Northumbrian Water, the Environment Agency and Newcastle University to explored what these approaches mean for the city and to influence a Blue-Green Vision for Newcastle.

This free event disseminates our research findings and launches a pledge to support a Blue-Green Vision, encouraging partners and the wider region to sign the pledge and collaborate to make it a reality.

More information and booking

.

Opportunities

PhD Vacancy - Natural Flood Management

This fully-funded PhD project based at Heriot-Watt University's Water Academy aims to capitalise on the opportunity presented by a new, large-scale woodland creation scheme within the Central Belt of Scotland. Long-term instrumentation and monitoring is proposed for two neighbouring catchments prioritised by the local authority’s flood risk management strategy. 

Closing date for applications is Feb 1st. 

Further information and contact details.

PhD Vacancy - Flood Forecasting

This fully-funded PhD project will (1) use new near real-time, high resolution satellite datasets to improve the medium- and short-term flood risk assessment generated by probabilistic ensemble flood forecasting to data-poor tropical regions, and (2) apply the flood model to the assessment of flood-induced pollution risk.

The student will work closely with academics at Cranfield University, Newcastle University and the Universidad Juaréz Autónoma de Tabasco (UJAT) on this modelling study.

More information and contact details

We hope that this edition of the FCERM.news has been interesting and enjoyable.  We are always looking for news, stories and events from the FCERM community.  If you have an item you would like us to publish, please contact c.morgan@hw.ac.uk with your text, a title and a high resolution image.

With thanks,

FCERM.net Team