Reasearch into the role of informal “flood action groups”

Reasearch into the role of informal “flood action groups”

Changing landscapes of stakeholder
interaction in flood risk managementLinda Geaves
DPhil in Geography and Environment
The issue of changing flood risk management
Getting from 98% state funding
Whose responsibility?
Payment in kind
or cash?
What is flood
risk?
Fair distribution
of taxes
Payment for Outcomes
Acceptable levels
of protection
Increasing flood risk
This structure of this talk
Investigation of one actor: The Public
‣Motivations of the State, and of the Public;
‣The emergence of public participation;
‣Patterns of public participation in FRM;
‣The outcomes for flood risk.
Actor interactions: a holistic view
‣Identifying
factors which influence stakeholder
behaviours;
‣The flood type;
‣Housing type.
State-Public Motivations
Why would you encourage public participation?
⎬
1. Strengthened Democracy
2. Efficient Solutions
Conflicting
methods?
Why would the public chose to get involved?
⎬
To solve the problem
But, what is the problem?
A conflicting starting ground for emergence of public
participation
the
flood?
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
Depending on:
The type of flood disturbance
The form of governance
The location
Levels of deprivation
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
The levels of flood disturbance
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
The levels of flood disturbance
Large, infrequent flood
Shock
Rural
Go it alone
Small, frequent flood
Frustration
Urban
Support Authorities
Designated flood group
Community wide
Pressure Authorities
Residents Associations
Small Nodes
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
The levels of flood disturbance
Points to mention
‣Targeting management
problem, not flood problem;
‣Not willing to raise large
funds;
‣Select members of the
community.
Small, frequent flood
Frustration
Pressure Authorities
Residents Associations
Small Nodes
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
The levels of flood disturbance
Use of pre-existing social capital
Points to mention
‣Targeting management
Small, frequent flood
problem, not flood problem;
Unresponsive
‣Not willing to raise large
Authorities
funds
‣Select members of the
Frustration
community
Pressure Authorities
Residents Associations
what counts as
SmallaNodes
flood?
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
The levels of flood disturbance
Points to mention
‣Targeting management
problem, not flood problem;
‣Not willing to raise large
funds
‣Select members of the
community
Small, frequent flood
Frustration
Attitude related to
flood type
“I can’t quite see residents around
here putting their hands in their
Pressure Authorities pockets unless it was a really
grave risk, and probably even so, I
think the reaction of a lot of people
Residents Associations would be, “well, this is what we
pay out rates and out taxes for,
and we shouldn’t have to be
putting our hands in our pockets
for things which we are
Small Nodes
contributing to anyway through
taxation.”
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
The levels of flood disturbance
Points to mention
‣Targeting management
problem, not flood problem;
‣Not willing to raise large
funds
‣Select members of the
community
Small, frequent flood
Frustration
Efficient solutions rather than
increased democracy.
“I wouldn’t want you to think
that all the residents are active.
As with so many of these things,
we have a nucleus and then
Residents Associations
the other residents here are
kept informed and then if
something significant does
come up the affects a lot of
Small Nodes
people, then you get more
people playing an active part.”
Pressure Authorities
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
The levels of flood disturbance
Points to mention
‣Targeting management
problem, not flood problem;
‣Not willing to raise large
funds;
‣Select members of the
community.
Small, frequent flood
Frustration
Pressure Authorities
Residents Associations
Small Nodes
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
The levels of flood disturbance
Points to mention
‣There is a difference between Large, infrequent flood
rural and urban action
‣Groups did not seek to attack
Authority -->
Shock
perceived as a flood problem
not a management problem.
‣Solutions varied depending Rural
Urban
on Authorities position
Go it alone
Support Authorities
Designated flood group
Community wide
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
The levels of flood disturbance
Points to mention
‣There is a difference between Large, infrequent flood
rural and urban action
‣Groups did not seek to attack
Authority -->
Shock
perceived as a flood problem
not a management problem.
Urban
‣Solutions varied depending Rural
on Authorities position
“A small village like ours
would get pretty low
priority. So we decided that
we would try and do
something ourselves.”
At the end of the day it got us
a few pennies from the
council to buy tools and
Go it alone
Support Authorities
equipment and so on for the
For me it’s simply to pay for
village and regularly, well
this, okay if that’s what’s
annually I suppose or
going to make it happen, then
Designated flood group
biannually, twice a year, clean
that’s what we’ll focus on. But
the river through with the
for me it was important that
waders and everything which
we actually got the town
have been supplied by the
protected and if that’s what we
people so really it is pure and
Community wide
need to do, then that’s what
simply a community effort.
we’ll do.
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
Our first meeting was an
The levels of flood disturbance
introductory thing and it was
extremely useful. Heather chaired it
Points to mention
and she said to everybody this is not
‣There is a difference between Large, infrequent flood a finger pointing exercise, this is an
rural and urban action
exercise whereby we bring you all
‣Groups did not seek to attack
together and the general outcome
Authority -->
should be a strategy whereby the
Shock
perceived as a flood problem
agencies can put forward
not a management problem.
recommendations as to how flood
Urban
Rural
alleviation can be incorporated
‣Solutions varied depending
within the borough of Emsworth.
on Authorities position
And it really was a sort of a
eyeopener because so often you get
Go it alone
Support Authorities
“When we first started working with
a situation in a public open
them [EA] they were quite
meeting, particularly where
defensive, they were a little bit
everybody stands up and says it’s
Designated
flood
group
aggressive towards us, but when
all your fault. We absolutely
they realised that we weren’t going
avoided that. The whole attitude of
to attack them, that we were all
the Environment Agency, Southern
working towards the same goal,
Water and the Highways, Havant
then they treated us as team
Community wide
Borough Council, were completely
members and we are looked on as
positive.
part of the team now.”
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
The levels of flood disturbance
Points to mention
‣There is a difference between Large, infrequent flood
rural and urban action
‣Groups did not seek to attack
Authority -->
Shock
perceived as a flood problem
not a management problem.
Urban
Rural
‣Solutions varied depending
on Authorities position
Go it alone
It’s not been difficult, it’s
been frustrating. Not
difficult. The leader of the
Council wanted us to meet
immediately, and we said
“No”, because one of the
rules we made was
originally was that we
wouldn‟t play their game
Support Authoritiesbecause they are winners at
there game, we would have
to play some other sort of
game."
“Because the Environment Agency
basically admitted they were at
fault so there was no need for
Designated flood group
anything like that. The, things
were sort of happening
spontaneously from their end; they
realised that they were liable if
Community wide
anything happened again and they
knew about it.”
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
Good Governance
(1) authorities contacted residents to organise a
meeting;
(2) a third party, such as the NFF, contacted
resident’s to suggest a meeting with other
stakeholders, utilising the leverage they held as
a national charity to ensure all relevant parties
attended;
(3) resident’s arranged a meeting and those
asked to attend did so; or
(4) residents tried to arrange meeting but were
either ignored or argued with.
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
Good Governance
(1) authorities contacted residents to organise a
meeting.
“What happened after the flooding is you get all these people coming in from the
top, coming down and telling you what you do. And you’re thinking no,
you don‟t know my community. You don’t know the issues, and that was one of
our big things about working with the Environment Agency and everybody. This
is what it tries to do for the problem and these are the big people who can solve
it.”
‣Resentment of Authorities
‣No initial flood group
‣Tense first meetings
Need for new knowledge
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
Good Governance
(2) A third party contacted residents to organise
a meeting.
“Within 24 hours my wife had been contacted as the chairman of the
residents’ association, by an outfit called the National Flood Forum and a lady
called Heather Shepherd. She said we needed help, can we come down and see
you and help you put together a flood action plan to prevent this sort of thing
from happening again?”
‣Quick reaction to flood
Quick reactions often only
‣Tapped into existing resource possible in large floods.
‣Organised meeting with all stakeholders
‣Organised flood fair
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
Good Governance
(3) resident’s arranged a meeting and those
asked to attend did so.
“We got our MP involved who got involved with the environment agency...we
needed to call the agency and the water company and Kent highways, we
needed to get them all on board and start doing things, as soon as we just called
general meetings the one that was in Littlebourne which is the next village down
stream which is where the main river starts to flow, we had this room and we had
a meeting.”
“They come to our meetings usually, they don‟t really like coming to our
meetings because our meetings are always on a Saturday morning and I think we
are a bit of a thorn in their flesh sometimes but we have a good relationship with
them.”
‣Community led
‣Organised flood fa
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
Good Governance
(4) residents tried to arrange meeting but were
either ignored or argued with.
“If we hassle them to much they’ll start to talk about things like, well, for
example with our ponds if we hassle them on maintaining too much they would
fill them in. Which I think may have been a knee jerk reaction in that particular
instance and I don’t think they really meant it. If there’s too much hassle though
they could though....it’s not, not a partnership as such because there isn’t a
sense of equality there. To an extent they can always turn around and say
“we’ve heard what you said but we’re going to do what we want to do””
‣Sense of Authority
Concern 1: will communities get involved?
Poverty
‣Two of the locations interviewed had
experienced severe flooding, but had no form of
collective body run by residents.
“We did try and get the locals to make a residents group. One of our trustees is
part of the tenants and residents group and she was quite prepared to go over
there and show [residents] how to start a [residents group] up but I think at the
time it was just one thing too much.”
“the reality was they had no money, they had no money to get their kids to
school. If you are living on the edge of poverty all the time and just about
keeping your head above water.”
“For people it is all about what is in it for me. They want a residents' group
when they have got an issue, that is when they come. Other than that they are
quite happy to jog along.”
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
Reduced flood plain
development
Reduced flood
frequency
Yes
and
Stable insurance
premiums
Acceptance of risk
No
Uptake of property
level protection
Increased options
for those at risk
Ability to adapt to
future risk
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Management Problem
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Management Problem
Yes
Ultimate trust in
hard defences
Little comprehension
of real risk
More likely to disband
and
No
Reduced flood plain
development
Less likely to
contribute funds
Unlikely to invest in
property level protection
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Management Problem
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Management Problem
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Management Problem
“We just took an interest, said yes fine, they said what
they were going to do and we went along that route. So
yes that was a help that there was the pressure from the
flood group to make sure we kept asking, we kept on to
them, what’s happening, went and looked...I kept,
obviously aware of everything that was happening,
informing people but the impetus from other members
was very much on the wane. So, that’s just it; basically
the flood group just fizzled off into the ether.”
‣Top-down
‣No input into design
‣Interested in a solution
rather than the flood
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
Our Problem -- hands-on approach
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
Our Problem -- hands-on approach
Supplementing
Authority
✔ supported by
Authority
✔ informal action
Yes
and
No
Taking over
responsibilities
of Authorities
take courses ✔
wear certain
clothing ✔
liable for
accidents ✔
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Flood Problem
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Flood Problem
Community wide
Better understanding
of future risk.
A diverse portfolio
of approaches
Yes
and
No
Likely to
contribute funds
Likely to invest in
property level protection
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Flood Problem
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Flood Problem
Multiple stakeholders
The economy sort of nosedived and as we went through to
2010 we then ended up with the EA turning to us and saying,
look we’re about to change the funding system, it would
help if the community could raise some money. So I set
myself on to something with which I was not comfortable
with but did manage in a matter of a few weeks to raise
£50,000. A lot of it from organisations, particularly a big
slice from the local Lions who had some money left on their
regional fund, including a number of local individuals.
Innovative fund raising
The EA, we have worked incredibly closely with. They have
been supportive of the group as it was set up, they’ve been
Flood defences + warning supportive all the way along and certainly they moved
heaven and earth to get the steam for us, the local EA. I, as
scheme
a quip, commented that if we hadn’t got the funding as we
did in February 2011 that I reckon they would have been up
and said, “Never mind we’ll do it at the weekends in our
own time.
Community Memory
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Flood Problem
I: When they first told you that you had to raise money,
was it a bit of a shock or were you happy to do it?
SC: It’s a hard one. For me it’s simply to pay for this,
okay if that’s what’s going to make it happen, then that’s
what we’ll focus on. But for me it was important that we
actually got the town protected and if that’s what we
need to do, then that’s what we’ll do.”
Multiple stakeholders
Council Precept
Flood defences + wardens
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Flood Problem
In addition to flood
defences;
“We’ve created what we call a flood warden scheme
and the flood warden scheme will become bigger and
then the other side of the group will just kind of die off
and we‟ll bring it back if we absolutely need to. The
flood warden scheme is about making sure that
everybody is much more prepared, really look how if
we’re going to be effected, or any other emergencies, and
we’re working with the services on that. We’re working
with the Fire and Rescue, the Police and everyone else on
that one.”
Community-led;
Use of technology.
“We have our own water meters. They can pick up the
data so we record the water level every hour and then
that data’s downloaded every month, so that’s on the
website so you could see....I think people now feel
happier because something’s now being done about it,
and they can see what is being done about it..People
actually used the fear of flooding...and now people are
thinking „oh it‟s only rain‟.”
Concern 2: will participation reduce flood risk?
The Flood Problem
Does community participation in flood risk
management work?
Yes
or
No
Current and future research:
The Bigger Picture
Can factors which most influence stakeholder
behaviours be identified?
How do these factors influence behaviours?
Who are the winners and losers?
Thank you!