The Scottish Government in collaboration with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) recently hosted a workshop examining the catchment approach to tackling flood risk.
The workshop was attended by over 50 delegates from Hungary, France, Norway, Spain, Romania, Ireland, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and the UK.
The workshop was part of a series of european events examining the implementation of the EC Floods Directive and fell under the umbrella of the European Commission's Working Group on the Floods Directive.
The first day comprised of five presentations ranging from general introductions to flood risk management, to examples of effective cross border cooperation along the Danube River and catchment flood risk management in the city of Glasgow. These were followed by breakout sessions where delegates discussed key issues and best working practices. A closing session was held to summarise the conclusions of the breakout sessions and provide a forum for common discussion. A civic reception hosted by the Provost of Stirling was followed by a conference dinner and ceilidh.
The second day included two field visits, one to the Glendey demonstration site in Glendevon and the other to RSPB saltmarsh restoration project on the River Forth. The event concluded with a discussions and feedback session.
The main aims of the workshop were:
- to discuss and draw conclusions and recommendations on what it means to adopt a catchment focused approach to flood risk management, including cross border implications;
- to examine opportunities, best practice and hurdles to delivering catchment focused flood risk management;
- to examine how best to deliver coincident environmental (inc. Water Framework Directive), social and economic benefits;
- to consider land management (rural and urban) and the adoption of flood management techniques that work with natural characteristics of the landscape;
- to exchange information on recent developments in the field of flood risk management planning.
We would like to thank MNV Consulting for helping to organise this event