The ‘Risk, Resilience and Response’ conference was held in Glasgow on the 30th January 2017. A diverse audience of Scottish planners, flood risk officers, local authority representatives, SEPA, Scottish Water, Scottish Power (SP Energy), Scottish Government, the Scottish Flood Forum and SNIFFER attended, creating great floor for focused resilience discussion. Key presentation notes included Anna Beswicks' (Adaption Scotland) discussion on enabling local action, specifically in regard to the Climate Change Scotland Act 2009, including forward thinking actions such as the Edinburgh Adapts vision and plan. Heather Forbes provided a great overview of NFM and its role in resilience planning and climate change, showcasing the Eddleston Water and Holnicote Projects and the NFM Handbook developed by SEPA. Steven Orrs discussion on their recent research on the effectiveness of Strategic Flood Plans in addressing flood risk and resilience brought home a message of ‘SEPA has some great advice, but it is not always heard or implemented in a timely manner in planning processes’. He also emphasised the need to change our view of flooding as ‘just another constraint’ and to move towards precautionary and resilience approaches. Jim McOmish presented the currently changing dimensions of climate impact on energy provisions, identifying the key issues of storm event severity and gales. Wind is seldom a climate change issue considered in forward planning and his presentation brought forward a clear need for this element of environmental uncertainty and change to be included in future resilience assessment, planning and development.

For more information: www.impactengagement.co.uk or #IEresilience