Submitted by CEH Admin1 on
Project overview:
What is the FDRI? The FDRI is a scoping project funded by NERC that will establish the requirements for a potential new national Floods & Droughts Research Infrastructure, and provide NERC with the information needed to submit a business case in Spring 2021.
The primary objective of the FDRI is to increase the UK’s resilience to floods and droughts through a transformational research capability, which will dramatically improve in UK’s flood and drought forecasting, planning, incident response & management.
The Scoping Study team is led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and comprises researchers from the University of Bristol, Imperial College London, and the British Geological Survey.
Building on the NERC-funded community workshops in 2019, which identified strong stakeholder interest in engaging with a dedicated scoping project, the FDRI team will be seeking views, ideas and inputs from a broad range of stakeholders across business, landowners, government and regulatory agencies via a series of surveys, webinars and virtual workshops. The team will also undertake a thorough review of past and ongoing flood and drought monitoring programmes, both in the UK and internationally.
Project Partners
The Project Management Team
The project will be delivered through several complementary work packages , one of which is responsible for overall project management. Members of the Project Management team are as follows:
| Gareth Old | UKCEH, Principal Investigator & WP Lead |
| Nichola Badcock | NERC, Quality Assurance |
| Victoria Barlow | UKCEH, Project Manager |
| John Bloomfield | BGS, WP Lead |
| Wouter Buytaert | Imperial College London, WP Lead |
| Matt Fry | UKCEH, WP Lead |
| Gwyn Rees | UKCEH, Project Co-Lead |
| Nick Reynard | UKCEH, Project Co-Lead |
| Marcia Spencer | UKCEH, Outreach, Communication & Project Support |
| Thorsten Wagener | University of Bristol, WP Lead |
Project Steering Committee
The project is overseen by a Project Steering Committee. Members include:
| David Hannah (Chair) | University of Birmingham |
| Nichola Badcock | NERC, Head of Capital |
| Lindsay Beevers | Herriot-Watt University |
| Alex Chahian | NERC, Programme Sponsor, Major Projects |
| Nick Chappell | Lancaster University |
| Stewart Clarke | National Trust |
| Hannah Cloke | University of Reading |
| Isabelle Durance | Cardiff University |
| Steve Hallett | Cranfield University |
| Joseph Holden | University of Leeds |
| Steve Kaye | UKWIR |
| Ruth Kelman | NERC, Head of Resilient Environments |
| Oliver Knevitt | NERC, Programme Manager, Capital and Resilient Environments |
| Michelle Manning | NERC, Senior Programme Manager, Resilient Environments |
| Thomas Robinson | NERC, Senior Programme Manager, Capital |
| John Remedios | NCEO / University of Leicester |
| Rebecca Smith | NERC, Programme Manager, Capital |
| Doug Whitfield | Environment Agency |
FDRI Questionnaire
The FDRI consultative questionnaire continues to remain open and is reviewed frequently - if you would like to complete it or would like to get in touch with us, please email fdri@ceh.ac.uk
FDRI Webinars
FDRI Webinar: Requirements and Rationale - Our second pre-recorded webinar was recorded last week can be viewed below. This webinar provides a 10 minute overview of the first workshop of the FDRI Scoping Project. It focused on identifying the community’s infrastructure requirements and their rationale. The interests of both academic and non-academic stakeholder organisations were represented by the large number of attendees (>50). Key findings are presented and next steps are described that include a second workshop that will consider and agree on priority infrastructure options. This potential infrastructure investment represents a major opportunity for the whole community so we encourage your continued engagement to ensure we maximise the benefits.
Introduction to the Flood Drought Research Infrastructure (FDRI) Scoping Study - The full recording of our first webinar that took place on Wednesday 14th October 2020 can be viewed HERE >>. We were asked many questions during the Q&A section of the webinar about the scope and detailed considerations of the FDRI scoping study. A record of the themes raised and the responses made by the project team to specific questions can be viewed here >>
Why get involved?
Your contribution to the project is vital and this is your opportunity to become part of a collaborative, influential network. Your involvement will enable us to gain a clear understanding of the range and diversity of opinions and priorities across the community and will guide the project outcomes.
Please note: due to GDPR guidelines it is critical that you ‘opt in’ to ensure your participation. It’s simple to do this, just click below:
Make sure your voice can be heard.
For general enquiries, to find out more about the project or to change your involvement level, please contact Marcia Spencer and Victoria Barlow
