Over 100 delegates gathered for The Rivers Trust Autumn Conference on Natural Flood Management (NFM) held on Thursday 9^th November at the Priest House Hotel in Castle Donington.

The conference, co-hosted by Trent Rivers Trust, was at full capacity and explored the delivery of Natural Flood Risk Management and SuDS solutions, to help build flood resilient communities and support catchment partnerships in implementing natural flood risk management projects – a key ambition for many in the sector. The conference was supported by Trent Rivers Trust, the Catchment Based Approach and the Interreg project, FRAMES (Flood Resilient Areas in a Multi-layEr Safety Approach). Alistair Maltby, Operations Director for The Rivers Trust, said:

“The conference was a huge success. We have never had so many informed practitioners in one room to discuss such an important topic. “We are working with partners in the North Sea Region, many of whom attended on the day, on building flood resilient communities and it was a great chance to share experience and knowledge with not just those in the UK, but also those in Europe.”

Chloe Palmer, Director of The Trent Rivers Trust, said:

“The Trent Rivers Trust was delighted to welcome our European FRAMES partners, together with other Trusts and organisations to the Trent catchment. “The conference was a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the rapidly developing topic of Natural Flood Management and we were particularly pleased to see how the theme of resilient communities resonated with everyone in the audience.”

The conference covered a diverse range of topics and incorporated workshop sessions whereby attendees could choose a topic to deep dive into. Discussion topics included evidence and evaluation of NFM, bringing communities together for resilient areas, implementing NFM and engagement tools for community outreach. One of the workshops consisted of an interactive demonstration session, including the 9ft long Marble Run from Eden Rivers Trust and the new JBA Trust Augmented Reality Sandbox. Alexandra Scott, Programme Manager from JBA Trust said:

“It was our first opportunity to test the new sandbox at an event and it had a great response. In the new year, the tool will be used out in the community by Rivers Trusts up and down the country to demonstrate to the community the impact of flooding on the landscape and how Natural Flood Management measures could help.”

To see the presentations from the day, click here.