Mapping Flood Recovery Gaps 2: Scaling up and creating legacy

Project Description

This proposal for transitional funding builds on and extends previous work supported by the Foundation: the Mapping the Flood Recovery Gaps project (Phase 1) “MFRG 1”. This proposal (Phase 2 - Transition) is to evaluate the demand for the outputs developed and piloted in MFRG 1 (see 1-4 below) and determine optimal strategies for scaling up deployment of these tools. This will facilitate realization of benefits at a national scale, create operational impact and provide a lasting legacy for the Foundation’s investment.

The MFRG 1 project brought together a multi-disciplinary team of academics, professional and specialist staff to develop tools and resources that can identify gaps in the provision and deployment of post-flood recovery and enable the ‘build back better’ principle to be applied effectively after major flood events.

The project developed and piloted in the Humber region a suite of tools capable of deployment across different geographical areas and regions or within specific economic sectors. The suite of tools/toolkit comprises:

1. A detailed review of available academic and policy literature which identifies thematic and specific gaps in post-flood response
2. Information about experiences of flood recovery gaps from experts and stakeholders, collected through semi-structured interviews informed and guided by insights from the literature
3. A structured, facilitated workshop featuring a bespoke serious game, “The Flood Recovery Game”. The game workshop is designed used to surface, identify and seek solutions to flood recovery gaps, encourage stakeholder engagement, communication and coordination, fostering and building common purpose.
4. A report providing a synthesis of the outcomes from the project’s investigation of flood recovery gaps and identifying measures and opportunities to improve, provided through recommendations tailored for the local area.

Using these tools, the project identified and mapped gaps in communication and co-ordination, procedural standardization, provision and availability of funding and other resources and information sharing.

Our evidence shows that the current patchwork of local, regional and national agencies and government departments involved in responding to flood incidents leads to fragmented and inconsistent post-flood interventions. As a result, flood-impacted householders and businesses can struggle to access timely, affordable, and effective resiliency-focused recovery.

Initial indications suggested there is wider demand for the tools developed in this project. Accordingly, we now propose further work to evaluate demand and specify how best to develop the tools from ‘prototype’ status for widespread deployment and sustainable implementation.