NERC national NFM programme
The objectives of the NERC-funded national NFM programme were to: (1) Establish an NFM Programme Coordination Group (PI Martin Evans, PI Joanna Clark (then John Hammond), PI Nick Chappell, with Trev Page, Emma Shuttleworth, Jo Beales and Gerard Stewart) and appoint an NFM Programme Manager (Jo Beales) and NFM Communications Coordinator (Gerard Stewart), (2) Discuss methods and findings between the three NERC projects - LANDWISE led by University of Reading, ProtectNFM led by University of Manchester and Q-NFM led by Lancaster University, and engage with academics external to the NERC-funded programme in the UK and internationally, (3) Develop on NFM Data Management Plan, (4) engage with the Programme Executive Board of the NFM national programme (NERC NFM Secretariat; UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Environment Agency; Scottish Environmental Protection Agency; Natural Resources Wales / Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru; National Trust; Arup Group Ltd), and (5) Share cross-programme findings with end-users (including those external to programme at a UK national scale).
Specific tasks:
1. NFM Programme Coordination Group: Met regularly (in person or virtually) to discuss cross-programme activites and progress with each project
2. NFM Science Integration Plan: Discuss methods and findings between the three NERC projects - LANDWISE, ProtectNFM and Q-NFM, and engage with academics external to the NERC-funded programme in the UK and internationally. Science integration activities (with support from the NFM Programme Manager) included:
NFM Science Workshop No.1 on 'NFM modelling across the NFM programme', held at Lancaster 7 Feb 2019 (internal)
British Hydrological Society national meeting 'Natural Flood Management: Does it work?' at Lancaster 24 Apr 2019
NERC NFM Report Card, 2023. view online.
NFM Glossary: A glossary of terms used in Natural Flood Management, 2024. view online.
3. NFM Data Management Plan: Summarise the quality assurance and file tracking procedures of each of the three projects, and identify legacy datasets for long-term sharing via the NERC Environmental Information Data Centre (EIDC). Example outputs include:
Chappell, N.A. 2018. Q-NFM: Data Management Plan. QNFM/QA/DMP/1/0001/1.0
Modelled dynamic response characteristics of selected micro-basins in the UK.
Simulated 15-min discharge time-series and baseline simulations for the River Kent ...Jan 2016.
4. National Reporting and Policy Development: Engage with the NFM Programme Executive Board (NERC NFM Secretariat, Defra, Environment Agency, SEPA, NRW, National Trust and ARUP) with support from the NFM Programme Manager support from the NFM Communications Coordinator. Example outputs include:
Green Finance Institute 2024. Financing Natural Flood Management. view online.
Elliott, J., and Giritharan, A. 2023. Going with the flow: Policy implications ...research. view online.
Wentworth, J. and Ermgassen, S.Z. 2020. Natural mitigation of flood risk. POSTnote: 623 (May 2020). UK Parliament.
5. NFM Communications Plan: Share cross-programme findings with end-users (including those external to programme at a UK national scale, and formal end-users linked to each of the three projects) with support from the NFM Communications Coordinator and the internal NFM Communications Hub. Example outputs included:
NERC NFM programme Finale Event on 7 July 2022
Chappell, N.A., Evans, M., Hammond, J., Hankin, B. Johnston, A. and Adekanmbi, A.A. 2023. view online.
Link to website of the NERC national NFM programme
Grant to Lancaster for national NFM work: EAA7658
The Q-NFM investigators are extremely grateful to the NERC NFM Secretariat (most notably Ruth Kelman and Daniel Knight) and NFM Programme Executive Board for their generous support throughout the programme, and to investigators within our partner projects Landwise and ProtectNFM for the rewarding opportunity to work together. We are equally appreciative of the technical and practical inputs of Q-NFM end-user partners in Cumbria and across the UK.