Involving Local Communities in Flood Risk Management – Urban and Rural Case Studies
This paper will discuss how changes in policy in the United Kingdom (UK) put an increasing emphasis on the involvement of local communities in the flood risk management process. Yet little is known about local communities and how they operate in our modern, mobile society. In fact many claim that local communities are being destroyed by increasing mobility and globalization. Is there a local community we can engage in the flood risk management process? If so, how can this be done? This research starts to address these questions by exploring both the social, collective responses to flooding and in turn the effect that flooding has on local social relations. This has been done through interviews with both residents and flood professionals in urban and rural locations in Yorkshire. While there were differences between the rural and urban areas, similar underlying processes were identified. There was not a single, straightforward ‘local community’ to be engaged. Rather there was a complex mix of overlapping networks and interests, where conflict as well as cooperation is possible. A number of key underlying factors were identified. To involve ‘local communities’ will require an evaluation of these in each location, whether urban or rural.
Review of the pilot flood protection grant scheme in a recently flooded area
In 2007, Defra launched a pilot grant scheme that provided funding for property-level flood protection surveys and measures in six locations in England. In November 2009, in what was probably the first flood event to affect any of these areas subsequent to the implementation of the pilot, the River Eden overtopped its banks and flooded one of the principal streets of Appleby-in-Westmorland. 
 
Six months later, this research was commissioned by Defra to discover what difference the government-funded measures had made to the people of the town, what factors had affected the implementation and effectiveness of the grant scheme and how the experience of the flood had changed attitudes towards this approach to flood risk management. 
 
This report details the findings of that research and is therefore of relevance to any local, regional or national bodies that are considering the introduction of similar schemes.
RIP - General Purpose Interactive Display at HHIRF
RIP is a general purpose interactive code for display and analysis of data acquired with the Holifield Heavy Ion Research Facility (HHIRF) accelerators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The HHIRF data acquisition system includes a version of RIP for on-line display of one-and two-dimensional histograms on color graphic terminals and hard copy on color printer/plotters. General features of the program and interactive techniques will be described.