4th European Conference on Flood Risk Management

Led by: Rémy Tourment and Elena Sossenkina

The session will commence with the following presentations:

• General introduction on risk framework for levees and flood defences - Rémy Tourment
• Combining deterministic and probabilistic approaches to make decisions - Dr Jonathan Simm
• Decision making for flood risk management and for levee systems management - Elena Sossenkina and Dr Mike Sharp

This will be followed by questions and answers and open discussion stimulated by the presentations

Led by Laszlo Balatonyi and Gheorghe Constantin

The Preparedness and response activities in the Danube Region session aims at introducing the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) Environmental Risks Priority Area (PA5) and its Disaster Management Working Group (DM-WG). The focus will be tailored to preparedness and response activities, with special focus on Tailings Management and related initiatives of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR) Accidental Pollution Control Expert Group (APC EG). The session will be concluded by sharing the latest information about possible funding instruments to achieve better preparedness and more effective response in the region.

• Introduction: of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, Environmental Risks Priority Area (05) Dr. László Balatonyi / Gheorghe Constantin
  • Challenges in the Danube Region –
  • Strategic partnership in the Danube Region: EUSDR PA5 – Dr. László Balatonyi
• Preparedness and response:
  • Remote sensing, as one of the potential technologies (Dr. Tibor Bíró, NUPS)
  • Case study of a tailing management facility disaster - consequences and overall effect on the Hungarian disaster response system (Kolontár, HU) tbc
  • The EUSDR PA5 Disaster Management Working Group – Zsolt Kelemen
  • Ongoing projects and funds related to Preparedness and response activities – Kinga Perge
• Activities of ICPDR APC EG
  • Tailing Management in the Danube Region – Ádám Kovács

Led by: Adrian Schmid-Breton and Jan Kruijshoop, International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR)

What are the water management challenges facing (international) river basins and what can they do to meet them? What can (international) river basins do to prepare and adapt to future changes? 

Organised and moderated by the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine, the oldest international environmental river commission in the world, and accompanied by other river basin organisations from all over Europe this session address the issue of preparing (international) river basins for the effects of socio-economic and climatic changes, with consequences on discharge (floods, low water & droughts), the use of the water and water availability. To answer these challenges a strong cooperation within river basins is fundamental. Collaboration between river basins themselves could be also highly beneficial. The session goes beyond solely managing flood risks.

After an introductory presentation by the ICPR on the new integrated Rhine 2040 programme and the work related to CC and (quantitative) water resources management, the participating basin organisations and international institutions will share their experiences on future challenges and ongoing programmes/projects in the form of a round table discussion and Q&A. Possibilities for further (international) interbasin exchange and cooperation will be explored. 

In addition, the public will have the opportunity to ask questions to the various organisations present and to participate in the debates. Questions submitted beforehand by the public will be addressed within the session. Additionally questions from the audience can be asked via chat during the session.

Led by: András Kis and Gábor Ungvári
Contributors: Lenka Slavíková, Nejc Bezak, Thomas Hartmann, Piotr Matczak

The Land4Flood community of scholars and practitioners is based on the shared understanding that the recent demand for flood defense by nature based solutions can only be accomplished if the engineering, legal and economic aspects of planning are considered as a comprehensive implementation process.

The special session will be built on the Land4Flood knowledge-network development, provides insight from this broadening pool of experience for the experts of the flood defense field and raises the awareness about the critical points of interconnections that can thwart successful realization flood risk mitigation.

Led by: Maria Pregnolato and Luke Prendergast

Sessions format:

• Short keynote presentation (Dr Prendergast)
• minute presentations from each attendant
• Discussion over a theme or break-out rooms over multiple themes e.g.
  • Scour modelling
  • Scour management
  • Decision-support
  • Prevention/mitigation
  • Monitoring
  • Sensors/approaches to detect scour
  • Visual inspection assessment strategies
  • Alternative assessment strategies
  • Climate change related scour modelling
  • Network resilience
  • Combined damage modelling (scour and other damage) 

Led by: Harm Rinkel, Stephanie Janssen & Ellen Tromp

Across Europe, the countries need to take measures – part of the EU Water Framework Directive – to protect the hinterland from flooding, such as dike reinforcement projects. At some locations, this appears to be difficult, partially due to the perceived challenges and hurdles around the Natura2000 legislation. Different approaches are followed both within and between countries. It is worth the effort to enhance the learning on these approaches in an attempt to safeguard both the threatened species and habitats as well as the inhabitants from flooding.

Programme:

16:00     Opening and introduction 
               Setting the scene by David van Raalte director at Waterschap Drents Overijsselse Delta
               Interaction with participants
16:20     Case study presentations & Discussions 
17:00    Group work – sharing experiences and best practices in combining Flood Risk Management and Natura2000
17:20    Session closure and next steps 

Led by: Wout de Vries and Ludolph Wentholt

This special session is an open invitation to join us in a coalition of the willing to arrive at the International Handbook for Emergency Response to Flood Risk. It can also be seen as a stepping stone towards the International Community of Practice of Flood Fighters.

16:00   Introductions - Participants to enter in chat function their name, organisation, country, topics of interest
16.10   Interactive introduction, including topics Why a Handbook,  Experience so far, Initial thoughts on the table of contents, Target audience, Expected outcome.
16:35   Practical aspects (interactive): How to arrive at a coalition, Position and future use of the Handbook, Proposed way of working, Roadmap to kickoff, other items to be considered.
17:00   Further discussion
17:30   Closure

Led by: Karin de Bruijn, Jason Needham, Woodrow Fields, and Paul Risher

This special session will survey current methods of flood fatality modeling from around the world. It will also give examples of how policy supports the use of that modeling for flood risk estimates. Presentations will be highlighted by a live demonstration of LifeSim as one example of a consequence model and followed by Q&A with the audience.

Led by: Jonathan Simm, Jaap Flikweert, Matt Arthur

Transitions between levees (earthen flood embankments) and other hard structures are areas of weakness within an overall system of flood defences and can be found at any location, on or within a flood defence where there is a change in flood defence structure or of protection revetment (slope or crest, road, etc.), in an internal cross section and in the construction or foundation materials. The transition typically promotes the processes of internal and external erosion. If these processes are undetected, or left unchecked, they can ultimately lead to flood defence failure and breach. This special session outlines the results of UK research on the inspection, performance assessment and management of transitions. There will be plenty of time for discussion to explore experiences of attendees related to transitions, to compare different approaches in Europe and elsewhere to their assessment and management and to identify future research needs.

Led by: Dr Clare Twigger-Ross, Dr Simon McCarthy, Dr Jonathan Simm, Paula Orr and Rolands Sadauskis

There is much discussion around the involvement citizens and communities in the delivery of flood resilience. This interactive session draws on recent review work from England looking at the role of citizens and communities in flood and coastal erosion risk management activities, specifically in terms of managing uncertainty and future risks through adaptation and transformation (proactive resilience) to examine what the future of communities’ and citizen’s involvement might look like, the challenges and opportunities. The session will consist of:

1. Current and possible futures for communities and citizens (Dr. Clare Twigger-Ross, CEP)
2. Discussion in small groups: futures, challenges, opportunities (All)
3. Challenge Panel and discussion on   Communities’ and citizens’ involvement challenges and Opportunities – Where next? – Key experts from different perspectives in FCERM including Prof Lindsay McEwen
4. Round up and final points

Led by: Karin de Bruijn, Heather Murdock, Shristi Vadya and Dr. Evalyna Bogdan

Urban areas are very vulnerable to floods and risk management in such areas is complex. In the event of a flood people and businesses in the urban environment often depend on the ability of the city and higher levels of government to cope. There are, however, many actors that need to be involved including not only water specialists and emergency managers but also urban planners, critical infrastructure operators, and the local community as a whole. This session will explore how damage and disruption can be reduced in a workshop format with consideration of the role of critical infrastructure and network effects using the Circle tool. This will include:

• Presentation on urban flood resilience  (Dr. Karin de Bruijn)
• Workshop session using the CIrcle tool (Heather Murdock & Shristi Vadya)
• Debrief session (Dr. Evalyna Bogdan)

We invite anyone interested in enhancing urban flood resilience to join this participatory session.