Between resistance and resilience: a study of flood risk management in the Don catchment area (UK)

ABSTRACT

The river Don catchment area in Sheffield and Rotherham offers a good place for a case study of flood risk management, given the impact of a flooding event in 2007 and the way in which local events have become entwined with national and international policy shifts. To interpret local policy, a combination of systems-based and socio-cultural theory is used. Both the theories and the case study serve to disentangle the multiple meanings of resilience. Understood in opposition to flood resistance, resilience has only limited applicability in an area such as the case study where engineering works protect employment and infrastructure. Resilience as a policy discourse also lacks political transparency and a recognition of socio-cultural influences. Underlying the shift towards resilient styles of management is an appreciation of the importance of capacity, to learn and to act. The case study identifies blockages to the realisation of that capacity.

KEYWORDS:

• Resilience
• resistance
• urban planning
• risk management

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the interviewees for their help. The contribution of Chris Hanson comes from work undertaken in part fulfilment of the MSc Urban and Regional Planning at Sheffield Hallam University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Barry Goodchild is Professor Emeritus and Senior Research Fellow at Sheffield Hallam University.

Rebecca Sharpe is a Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University.

Chris Hanson is a professional town planner writing in a personal capacity.

Notes

1. UK Government Press Release. Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/news/national-flood-resilience-review-government-action-to-tackle-floods

2. ‘Natural Flood Management’UK Houses of Parliament Postnote. Retrieved from http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/POST-PN-396/POST-PN-396.pdf.

3.  Flooded small businesses relying too much on insurance cover. Retrieved from http://www.salford.ac.uk/built-environment/about-us/built-environment-news2/flooded-small-businesses-relying-too-much-on-insurance-cover)

4. For examples, see

The disaster risk management cycle. available on FLOODsite. Retrieved from http://www.floodsite.net/html/cd_task17-19/flood_management_practice.html

Flood risk management – creating efficiency by stakeholder involvement presentation at the Global Risk Forum GRFDavos, August 2012. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/GRFDavos/flood-risk-management-creating-efficiency-by-stakeholder-involvement

5.  See, for example, the Sesame project at http://sesame.uk.com/

6. Projects, The North Sea Region Programme 2007–2013, MARE. Retrieved from http://archive.northsearegion.eu/ivb/projects/list/&let=M (accessed December 2016)

7. Project Portfolio, The North Sea Region Programme 2007-2013, CAMINO. Retrieved from http://results.northsearegion.eu/en/projects/Climate-Adaptation-Mainstreaming-through-Innovation.157/

8. Sheffield Lower Don Valley Flood Defence Project and Business Improvement District. Retrieved from http://ldvflooddefence.co.uk/?page_id=20 (consulted February 2017).

9. Blackburn Meadows Biomass Plant. Retrieved from http://www.bdp.com/en/projects/a-e/blackburn-meadows-biomass-plant/Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust. Retrieved from http://www.wildsheffield.com/nature-reserves/our-reserves/blackburn-meadows

10. Sheffield Waterways Strategy. Retrieved from https://www.sheffield.gov.uk/planning-and-city-development/regeneration/waterways-strategy.html The Hidden Rivers of Sheffield under our feet. Retrieved from http://www.sheffieldnewsroom.co.uk/the-hidden-rivers-of-sheffield-under-our-feet/

11. Protecting Sheffield from Flooding. Retrieved from http://www.floodprotectionsheffield.com/

12. Rivelin Valley Conservation Group (2016, October). Response to Sheffield City Council consultation. Retrieved from http://www.rivelinvalley.org.uk/

Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust. Flood Protection Proposals. Retrieved from http://www.wildsheffield.com/news/2016/12/01/flood-protection-proposals

13. Development in Rotherham Regeneration Area: Flood Risk Toolkit. Retrieved from http://www.smartfloodprotection.com/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2014/09/property_owners_guidance_revised.pdf

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Sheffield Hallam University.