Every year the CIWEM Rivers and Coastal Group (RCG)
committee present the Jack Lewin prize to someone who has made a significant
contribution to the rivers and coastal sector.
This year the prize was awarded at the Flood and Coast 2023
conference to Mott MacDonald nature-based solutions technical director Emma
Wren MCIWEM C.WEM.
The Rivers and Coastal group committee voted Wren to be the deserving recipient
of the award this year “given her outstanding contribution to nature-based solutions
and commitment to the natural environment both in and outside of work.”
Wren is a Technical Principal in Nature Based Solutions,
driving technical excellence within Mott MacDonald and continually looking for
ways to deliver benefits for the environment, particularly rivers.
Outside of her day job, her passion for improving her local watercourses is
fundamental to her voluntary roles in the wider community.
Emma secured £50,000 funding for the Collingham Beck Natural
Flood Management (NFM) Study as part of a national competition in 2017,
coordinating with the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust and
local partners, and implemented a range of measures throughout the catchment.
Emma is a trustee of the East Keswick Wildlife Trust, having
been involved with the organisation for over 10 years. Through this role she
has championed fundraising initiatives to protect green space, introduced the
next generation to river stewardship through her role as a Brownie leader and
guardian of a mile long length of the River Wharfe.
Emma is a driving force in challenging the conventional ways
of working on ‘traditional’ engineering flood management projects, championing
the implementation of nature-based solutions and sharing her knowledge and
enthusiasm from grassroots initiatives within her wider professional network.
This has enabled her to champion rivers through her role as lead author on the
CIRIA NFM guide, empowering the communities across the country to implement NFM
based on best practice approaches.
She has been instrumental in growing the Yorkshire NFM
Community of Practice through securing sponsorship and leading a programme of
events to upskill and inspire a range of individuals and organisations across
the region to deliver NFM at scale, for the benefit of all rivers in Yorkshire.
She has coordinated volunteering of her colleagues as part
of the companies ‘Brilliant Neighbours’ initiative, including litter picking
along the River Aire and tree planting activities in the catchment.
On being present the award, Emma tells us “I am absolutely thrilled and really proud to receive the
Jack Lewin prize from my industry colleagues in the CIWEM Rivers and Coastal
Group. I love our rivers, coasts and wider landscape and always encouraging
everyone to use their voice, their skills and their passion to enact positive
change. We all have a responsibility, both to our ancestors and our future
generations to tackle the challenges facing our rivers and coasts.”
Find out more about the CIWEM Rivers and Coastal Group here.