Press release: ‘Flood and Coast’ conference to tackle the big questions facing flood and coastal erosion management

Now in its third year, the annual event brings together experts from across the globe to share ideas and opportunities to work together to tackle the risk of flooding and coastal erosion.

Flood & Coast takes place at the Telford International Centre from 20-22 March and registration is live on the event’s website: www.floodandcoast.com

Other topics including infrastructure resilience, partnership working, community collaboration and incident response will also be debated at the 3 day event.

Speakers this year include the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, Sir James Bevan, the Chief Executive of the Met Office, Rob Varley, and Baroness Brown of Cambridge, Chair of the Adaptation Sub-Committee of the Committee on Climate Change.

Other speakers include Jeff Lindner, a Director and meteorologist with the Harris County Flood Control District in Houston, Texas, who will share his experiences from Hurricane Harvey last August.
Clare Dinnis, Deputy Director of the Environment Agency, said:

Climate change is one of the biggest global threats we face. Intense storms are becoming more frequent and climate change will also raise sea levels. So this year we’re focussing on how partnerships between attendees can help us be better prepared to respond to future challenges like climate change.

Experts from the UK and across the globe will discuss their experiences so we can learn from each other and improve how we manage flood risk and coastal erosion in the UK.

Paul Cobbing, Chief Executive of the National Flood Forum charity, said:

The Flood & Coast Conference is a great chance to network – bringing together a rich concentration of flooding and coastal erosion experts with a diverse mix of backgrounds – commercial companies, product manufacturers, public organisations, community representatives and academics.

Bringing these people together in a shared space provides a fantastic opportunity to explore how we can work together to reduce flood risk and manage coastal erosion more effectively in the UK.

More than 200 speakers will talk at the event, and 80 exhibitors will showcase the latest in flood risk management technology and innovation.

The full conference programme is now available on the website: www.floodandcoast.com

Notes to editors

• Delegates include representatives from the Environment Agency, local authorities, risk management authorities, water companies, research academics, businesses, manufacturers and communities at risk of flooding.
• The winners of this year’s Environment Agency Project Excellence Awards will be announced during the conference. The awards celebrate best practice in project areas such as programme and project delivery, partnership working, asset management, innovation, value for money, sustainability and community leadership.
• Flood & Coast’s association partners include the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the National Flood Forum, the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and the Association of Drainage Authorities (ADA).
• Flood & Coast is kindly sponsored by Van Oord, Black & Veatch, Jacobs, Flood Modeller, AECOM and VolkerStevin, Boskalis Westminster and Atkins (VBA).