Boosting resilience to flooding and coastal change
We’re working out how to measure changes in resilience to flooding and coastal change over time.
Sustainable drainage at a new development in the OxCam arc
What we’re doing
336,000 properties will be better protected from flooding and coastal change between 2021 and 2027.
The Environment Agency measure and track the number of properties protected each year to understand the impact of investment and report on progress to government. We want to be able to measure and track other aspects to understand how flood and coastal risk management activity improves resilience to flooding and coastal change.
Actions to boost resilience
The national flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) strategy for England aims to boost resilience to flooding and coastal change using a range of activities. Whilst all the time adapting, we’re working with others to:
- provide protective defences
- improve place making
- respond to flooding and coastal change
- improve recovery
Increasing resilience is an important part of how the nation can adapt to climate change.
Measuring success
We’ll only know if the picture is changing for the better if we measure changes in resilience over a period of time, so we’re delivering new research to determine how to do this.
We have already worked with focus groups to understand what resilience to flooding and coastal change means in different contexts and places. Over the summer we’ll use the results to develop ways of measuring changes with indicators. In September 2021, focus groups will help us design these indicators. Please let us know if you would like to join these focus groups.
The project will also look at what’s already being monitored and what other data or action might be needed to measure how resilience is changing.
This work will help the Environment Agency report on progress in delivering the national FCERM strategy, and Defra to develop a national set of indicators to understand the impact of policies and inform future action. The government committed to developing these indicators in the flood and coastal erosion risk management policy statement.
It will also enable the Environment Agency and Defra to evaluate, monitor and learn from a range of activities to boost resilience to flooding and coastal change. We are working alongside the flood and coastal resilience innovation programme to help monitor progress and understand the benefits being delivered.
When complete, the research reports will be published on our project page.
Further information is available from Hayley Bowman hayley.bowman@environment-agency.gov.uk
Note
The UK Government is developing a new National Resilience Strategy to enhance the way we prepare and respond to the most serious risks we face as a nation. The Cabinet Office are seeking contributions to a supporting Call for Evidence until 27 September to gather the broadest possible range of views to inform the strategy.
Updates to this page
Published 21 July 2021Last updated 23 July 2021 + show all updates
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Added reference to call for evidence for National Resilience Strategy
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First published.