Rivers and Coastal Group

On 7 March 2025 we hosted the first RCG technical conference in over a decade to mark 75 years of the RCG. It was a great success, with presentations, panel discussions and workshops to an almost sell-out audience. Our theme was uncertainty, and all the sessions wove in the golden thread of overcoming the challenge of uncertainty in putting policy into practice. We talked about a wide variety of topics including changing coasts, property insurance and data quality. Find out more here.

We are starting to plan our 2026 technical conference.

2025 RCG Technical Conference at Arcadis, London

The Rivers and Coastal Group Study Trips bring together river and coastal professionals, both current and aspiring CIWEM members, for a mix of lectures, workshops, site visits and social activities. They are informative, educational and good fun is always had by all! In previous years we have run a mix of local and international visits, including Leeds, Durham, Lancaster and The Netherlands.

Our last Study Day in October 2024 focused on the Avonmouth and Severnside Enterprise Area (ASEA) Scheme in Bristol, and included both coastal and fluvial aspects. The day was a mix of technical talks in the morning and a site visit in the afternoon.

We are planning our next study day for October 2025.

If you have any suggestions for future study days, please get in touch at rcggroup@ciwem.org.uk.

Leeds, 2022

The Netherlands, 2019

For the last two years, we have co-hosted a day of the conference with The Rivers Trust. This is usually focused on Nature-based solutions. We have a collaborative working group with The Rivers Trust to find and book speakers, plan workshops and chair panels. This year (2025), the format has changed and instead of having a single day, the RCG is involved in aspects of all three days, including facilitating workshops and helping to judge submissions.

This is a new annual competition for those who are early in their career and perhaps not yet chartered. Each year we will set a challenge to be completed in groups. The prizes include tickets to Flood & Coast, vouchers and more! Benefits of taking part include getting to know the sector better, expanding your network, developing skills and gaining experience and exposure.

Our theme this year is uncertainty (to match our technical conference). The competition will open for registration on 14 April for a month, with an in-person briefing on 19 May. A link will be added here soon for more information.

Every year the RCG committee presents the Jack Lewin prize to someone who has made a significant contribution to the rivers and coastal sector. In the past it was presented at the Rivers & Coastal Group Conference and now it is usually presented at the Flood & Coast Conference.

History of the Prize

Formerly known as the RCG Chairman’s prize, it was renamed in 2010 after Professor Jack (Jacob) Lewin. Lewin, born in 1922 in East Prussia as it was then, was a survivor of Kristallnacht in 1938, and came to Britain the following year on the Kindertransport aged 16. Lewin learnt English at night school and started out as an apprentice draughtsman. He became one of the world’s leading experts in the design of hydraulic gates, writing the definitive book ‘Hydraulic Gates and Valves’ in 1995.

Lewin was an enthusiastic supporter of CIWEM and the RCG and donated a section of original wooden elm water pipe from his days with the Metropolitan Water Board to the RCG. The water pipe became the trophy for the Chairman’s Prize.

Following Lewin’s death in January 2010, the RCG chose to rename the Chairman’s prize in his honour. The name plate on the Elm Pipe trophy is now full-up of previous winners so is on display at CIWEM HQ. A new trophy was manufactured, and with Jack in mind, was made from parts of one of the UK’s famous flood gates - the Thames Barrier.

Recent recipients of the Jack Lewin Prize

Director of Wetland Conservation Clare Dinnis

Recent recipients of the Jack Lewin prize include:

• 2023-2024 – Clare Dinnis for her instrumental role in enabling a collaborative approach across government and partners to develop the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy (for England) published in 2020, and for forming the Women in FCERM initiative in 2018, which supports women and men in striving for gender diversity across the wider flood and coastal erosion sector.
• 2022-2023 – Emma Wren for her commitment to striving for better understanding and management of river environments, both in her work to promote sustainable approaches and bring partners together, and for living those values through her commitments to volunteering and grassroots work.
• 2021-2022 – Bryan Curtis for their long history of contribution to Coastal Partnerships and coastal planning and issues, as well as contribution to the CIWEM Rivers and Coastal Group
• 2019 – Multi-agency group coordinating the emergency response to the Toddbrook Reservoir (Whaley Bridge) dam spillway collapse
• 2018 – Chris Broome for a lifetime contribution and member of CIWEM East Midlands Branch committee for more than 15 years