Scotland’s Flood Risk Management Conference 2021: FRM and green recovery

1 – 5 February 2021

Introduction

We are delighted to invite you to join us for our virtual conference from the 1 – 5 February 2021. At this critical time, we will be exploring what the green recovery means for Flood Risk Management and how we translate our learnings from the pandemic to help build a more resilient Scotland better able to withstand the current and future climate, and other crises.

We are living in a period of rapid social and structural change and the future seems less certain than ever. COVID-19 has highlighted vulnerabilities and inequalities in the systems and structures upon which our society relies. We are seeing the tremendous value of using science well to inform decision making but also the importance of creative approaches and thinking differently.

After a year of working in isolation there is also a growing momentum to build back better. FRM 2021 will be a safe opportunity for the FRM community to come together to share knowledge and best practice. We’re certain it will inspire and equip you to drive the work ahead, no matter what challenges we face.

We believe that the traditional format of a 2-day event action-packed with speakers would be overwhelming in a virtual setting so have planned a conference programme over 5 days - featuring 2-3 hours of content per day, starting at 9:55 each day. Each day will be dedicated to a different theme of interest to the flood risk management community and wider society and will feature a mix of presentations, Q&A sessions, panel discussions and workshops, including creative break-out sessions offering the chance for the community to work together to reimagine new solutions to the challenges that face us.

Conference Programme

Download full conference programme here.

Programme overview 

Monday 1 February – Finance and green recovery

Join us to learn more about how flood risk management will be an essential part of the post-COVID-19 recovery and Scotland’s plans to build back better (including the race to net zero carbon); including:

• The new funding landscape
• How to make environmental gains from economic disturbance
• Innovations in making the business case and the carbon case for FRM
• Accounting for co-benefits

Tuesday 2 February – What’s new: science and policy updates

Join us to discuss the latest news on scientific advances, modelling, observed climate change and policy updates from the flooding world; including:

• The latest FRM updates from SEPA
• Updates on the latest research including Dynamic Coast, future precipitation projections and observed climate change
• The future of 2D modelling
• The latest technical solutions for protecting essential infrastructure

Wednesday 3 February – Land, place-making and planning

Join us to look at how FRM fits into the broader place-making and planning agenda and how FRM can be an essential part of delivering better places and a more resilient landscape; including:

• How to plan for flooding and structure our places around it in a pragmatic way to maximise benefits and minimise potential for harm
• Engaging with landowners and normalising adaptive FRM and water management
• How to centre blue-green infrastructure into place-making and land use planning

Thursday 4 February – Inclusive resilience: strengthening communities and reducing inequity

Join us to find out more about what makes communities resilient and how we can strengthen our communities to best face future challenges; including:

• How we can support communities to be more resilient and future-proof their homes
• Using blue green infrastructure to help redress inequalities
• Removing barriers to householder adaptation including PFR
• Practical measures householders, property managers and portfolio managers can take to assess climate change risks and adapt
• The long-term impacts of flooding on inequality, health and wellbeing and other socioeconomic indicators

Friday 5 February – Communication and engagement

COVID-19 has shown us the need for a well-informed public able to take more responsibility for their own resilience and respond to fast moving messaging. Join us to share learnings about how we can better communicate and engage wider society when it comes to flooding and climate change, including:

• The comms challenges posed by lockdown and robust solutions such as digital consultation
• Data driven innovation, digital tools to increase resilience
• The past present and future of flood forecasting and warning services
• How to engage the public to be active and informed in civic decision making and the move to greater participatory democracy

Registration Information

Please click here to register for the Conference. 

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The conference is funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by Sniffer.

Title image credits: Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash