As a Lead Local Flood Authority we have responsibility for managing surface water flooding as well as having 12 miles of coastal sea defence that we own and maintain. Many of the flooding problems we experience in the area are due to water from different sources combing so more holistically managing flood risk, improving understanding and improving resilience is an important goal for the organisation in this changing climate.
As an authority covering a highly developed landscape we have a lot of areas at risk of flooding but we traditionally receive less funding contributions toward works due to our small physical size. Due to the development we also have less space to deliver more traditional flood and coastal erosion risk management interventions and so a new approach was needed. The FCRIP programme was an excellent opportunity to join up with Thurrock and a wide range of partner organisations to use our collective knowledge and experience to explore new, innovative options with the goal of showing that they are viable ways to help improve resilience both in Southend and across the UK.
Thurrock council are proud to be a lead project member of Catchment to Coast. As a lead local flooding authority we have a duty to manage flood risk to help protect our residents. This innovation project will help us to learn better how new ways of thinking can support and protect our communities.
Thurrock is one of the two lead council partners alongside Southend which established the Catchment to Coast partnership.
At Thames21 our mission is to empower people of all ages, abilities and from all parts of society to improve their local waterways. We love the vision of Catchment to Coast which will work from source to sea, addressing flooding and coastal erosion by using Nature Based Solutions to harness the power of nature.
Our role on the project is to ensure that local communities, who often know their waterways and coastlines better than anyone, have a voice in the development of project proposals and that they are involved at every step of the journey to a more resilient and ecologically vibrant blue/green landscape.
Working with catchment to coast has been a no brainer right from day 1. The project vision aligns perfectly with our business priorities, and presents some fantastic opportunities for partnership working which will reduce flood risk and offer significant benefits to the environment.
– Matthew Moore
‘Essex Wildlife Trust are the county’s leading conservation charity, committed to protecting wildlife and inspiring a lifelong love of nature. We manage nature reserves and discovery parks across the county, providing outstanding outdoor learning and preserving places of wonder.
Founded in 1959 by volunteers, we protect and manage over 100 sites across Essex and are supported by 40,000 members.
Our climate is in crisis and nature needs our help. Therefore, we are keen to engage in this Catchment to Coast project because of its collaborative, partnership approach at a landscape scale which includes the coastal marine environment. Working with nature-based solutions and local communities is key to successful ambitious outcomes that we want for wildlife and people in this area.
The Environment Agency are proud to be supporting the Catchment to Coast (C2C) Project as one of our 25 Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme (FCRIP) projects. The C2C’s innovative, yet practical approach to flood and coastal resilience is a perfect fit for The National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy; where we set out our vision for England to be a nation ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change today, tomorrow and to the year 2100.
We are also delighted to be part of such a collaborative project, working together to protect local communities and to generate new ideas and learning for the next generation of flood and coastal protection measures.
We are delighted to be a local partner in the Catchment to Coast project which is part of our national Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme. The Catchment to Coast project will support us in delivering our strategy in being a nation ready for, and resilient to flooding and coastal change.
King’s College London is one of England’s oldest and most prestigious universities. In the Department of Geography, we have a strong focus on understanding floods and in particular the role of nature-based solutions in helping mitigate their impacts. As a geographer, I applaud the vision of Catchment to Coast as working from source to sea, including everything in-between. As a scientist, I am impressed by the focus on evidence-based approaches and detailed monitoring and modelling of baselines and impacts of the interventions deployed.
Our role on the project is to use innovative, low-cost approaches to help monitor the current climate, river and coastal processes in the region and to provide the evidence for the effectiveness of the solutions being trialled, through rigorous experimental approaches.
– Mark Mulligan
Professors Graham Underwood and Tom Cameron, from the Ecology and Environmental Microbiology group in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Essex work at the scales of genes-to-ecosystems to understand the functioning of the natural world https://www.essex.ac.uk/departments/life-sciences/research/ecology-and-environmental-microbiology-group
In the Catchment-to-Coast project, we are investigating the impact of nature-based solutions to flood and coastal erosion risk on ecosystem functioning and natural capital. With a focus on the freshwater catchments and coastal habitats, we will be working with the wider team to understand how mitigating flows can reduce nutrient loadings, enhance biodiversity, and increase carbon storage and habitat resilience to environmental pressures.
https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/u/g/under13404 and https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/CAMER52908/thomas-cameron
Exo Engineering specialises in nature-based solutions for clients worldwide. We offer marine eco engineering expertise for situations where hard infrastructure is required, but green solutions are equally desirable. For example we offer effective protection from erosion or scour in dynamic intertidal and subtidal environments, with biogenic solutions that allow biodiversity to flourish. Our solutions feature complex micro and macrotextures which mimic the naturally occurring features that encourage biodiversity. Our design and product development team offer solutions for marine infrastructure, whilst benefiting the natural environment, this supports projects in achieving biodiversity net gain.
Our involvement in the Catchment to Coast (FCRIP) project is to provide innovative habitat enhancing coastal infrastructure. We are excited to take on this challenge and offer disruptive innovations. We furthermore love to educate stakeholders in the role eco-engineering and how this can play in future infrastructure projects moving towards a more sustainable future.
AmbioTEK is a not for profit, local environmental data company which provides hardware and software for monitoring and managing water, natural hazards and ecosystem services. We are a based in Southend and we are pleased to join such an exciting local project. During this project we will be working with farmers and in the woodlands to monitor the impacts of the new interventions deployed in the upstream areas to reduce flooding in Southend and Thurrock, including measuring rainfall intensity during storms and the stream water levels. We are testing low cost innovative methods to monitor coastal erosion and Estuary water quality developed by our University partners, and we are assessing how the retrofitted Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems are increasing urban gardens’ resilience to flooding and drought.
Rochford District Council are supporting the Catchment to Coast project because we recognise the importance of working together to look at the whole story when it comes to improving flood resilience. Although only a small section of the watercourses in the project are in our District, the work carried out will have implications for our residents. Catchment to Coast is helping to reduce flood risk, whilst at the same time managing water to their benefit. I hope we can apply the lessons learnt to similar projects elsewhere in our District.
Water offsets are leading the charge to preserve every precious drop of water. From innovative new technologies to master planning and detailed engineering design of new settlements, we offer cutting edge wholistic solutions to build greater water resilience for residents and businesses, whilst also tackling issues such as sanitation and flooding. All of which save water, energy, carbon and help maintain ecological flows, allowing biodiversity to flourish. Through this approach, we have designed the UK’s first large scale water neutral development of over 800 homes, and are delivering properties utilising only 65 litres of water per person per day, compared to the UK average of 150. Our role in the project is to demonstrate how integrated infrastructure solutions can bring much greater benefits to our communities, and demonstrate our new technologies such as the hydroloop, a new greywater recycling system for home use, capable of cutting typical household water consumption by up to 60%.
Hydrorock’s Mission is to transform surface water management in the UK to facilitate the ready repair of the UK’s broken water cycle: providing unique Natural Aquifer Drainage and Irrigation systems which enable truly Flood and Drought Resilient SuDS Solutions
Coming soon
The Centre for Collective Intelligence Design at Nesta is excited to join the project to support Southend City Council and the Catchment to Coast programme in creating new insights on public attitudes towards different climate adaptation measures, and to grow public interest and awareness on this topic as there has been relatively little public engagement done on this to date. We hope to create a legacy for the Catchment to Coast project by creating a public engagement tool which can be used by other local councils, and creating a process that brings together data insights to inform Southend City Council’s broader climate strategies and plans.
This project builds directly on our Strategy Room project which engaged Southend residents, and residents from 11 other councils, in exploring different policy options to get to net zero. We will build on the Strategy Room methodology in this project – adapting the approach with a focus on engaging residents on adaptations needed for resilience to flooding, coastal erosion and drought.
The goals of the project link to the Centre for Collective Intelligence Design’s mission of developing new, innovative forms of civic participation on issues relating to climate change, health and democracy. It also aligns with Nesta’s wider ambition of designing, testing and scaling new solutions to society’s biggest problems. Our multidisciplinary team brings together researchers with experience of data analysis and social psychology, designers, software developers and project managers – with experience of developing the Strategy Room and other projects that have generated novel citizen insights to influence policy change.
