{"id":66242,"date":"2025-06-16T16:31:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T15:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/?p=66242"},"modified":"2025-06-16T17:18:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T16:18:48","slug":"national-award-for-devon-resilience-innovation-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/national-award-for-devon-resilience-innovation-project\/","title":{"rendered":"National award for Devon Resilience Innovation Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A project working to improve resilience to flooding in 26 communities across Devon has received a prestigious national award.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Devon Resilience Innovation Project<\/a> (DRIP), which helps neighbourhoods to be better prepared for flooding and to recover more quickly from flood events, was among the winners at the Environment Agency\u2019s Flood & Coast Excellence Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was presented with an award in the \u2018Surface Water Management\u2019 category, recognising DRIP\u2019s work to increase flood resilience in Stokeinteignhead, including natural flood management, property flood resilience, community engagement and a surface water flood forecasting pilot project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This work has been led by Devon County Council, with support from a number of partners: Westcountry Rivers Trust, JBA Consulting, Kisters, University of Exeter and University of Plymouth.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Councillor Jacqi Hodgson, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Biodiversity, said:<\/p><\/div>\r\n \t\t

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“Congratulations to everyone involved with DRIP – it is an extremely valuable project which is helping communities across Devon and making a real difference to people’s lives. I’m glad the work by DRIP has been recognised with this award, which is very much deserved.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n

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\r\n\t\t\"Councillor\r\n
\r\n Councillor Jacqi Hodgson, Leader of the Green and Independent Group and Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Bio-diversity<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n <\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\n\n\n

Gale Alexander, DRIP project manager, said: <\/strong>\u201cWe are thrilled to receive this award because it represents a triumph for our efforts on the project over the previous five years. Being recognised by our peers is the ultimate accolade for the whole Flood & Coastal Risk Management team who have contributed in different ways, and our partner organisations. We would also like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the community and landowner, without whom this scheme would not have been possible.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doug Munford, Head of Resilience and Communities at Westcountry Rivers Trust, said: <\/strong>“Westcountry Rivers Trust is privileged to be contributing to DRIP (Devon Resilience Innovation Project) and it\u2019s fantastic to see the outputs being formally recognised, particularly as this project is so focussed on working in partnerships with communities to deliver innovative solutions to increase flood resilience.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr Alan Puttock, Lecturer in Nature-based Solutions at the University of Exeter, said:<\/strong> “Reducing flood risk flood risk is essential and it is fantastic to be involved in this important project, alongside Devon County Council, the Environment Agency and an amazing range of project partners. Our research is seeking to optimise and upscale understanding of how and where natural-flood management approaches can increase resilience to flooding, now and into the future.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs part of the DRIP project, PhD researcher Georgina Freer-Carmichael from the University of Plymouth is evaluating the benefits of innovative, nature-based solutions for flood management. These approaches are essential for the future,\u201d explains Dr Paul Lunt, Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth<\/strong>, \u201cas they help reduce the risks faced by flood-prone communities\u2014especially in light of the increasing intensity of rainfall following recent climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a number of ways DRIP is supporting communities to improve their flood resilience, including managing the flow of water in an area, planning for and responding effectively to incidents, recovering quickly and building back better, and making the best-informed land use and development choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DRIP is funded by DEFRA as part of the \u00a3150 million Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme (FCRIP) which is managed by the Environment Agency to develop and test new approaches to help communities become more resilient to the effects of flooding and climate change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":66246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[645,86,149],"class_list":["post-66242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment-and-climate-change","tag-cllr-jacqi-hodgson","tag-environment-2","tag-flooding"],"acf":[],"featured_image":{"ID":66246,"title":"Copy of hero image for news website (49)","alt":"Members of the DRIP team collecting their Flood & Coast Excellence 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