The 75th Rivers and Coastal Group Conference highlights climate challenges and advances in flood risk management

26 March 2025

Personal reflections on the 75th anniversary conference of CIWEM’s Rivers and Coastal Group – addressing the critical need for collaboration in tackling climate change, flood risk and coastal management

CIWEM’s River and Coastal group has grown exponentially. When the 50th anniversary came around at the turn of the millennium, we were celebrating nearly 500 members. By the time of the 60th anniversary we were at nearly 1,000 and we’re now at nearly 2,000. This growth highlights the key role we play as a forum fostering collaboration across our industry.

As the current chair of the Rivers and Coastal Group (RCG), I was honoured to present the 75th anniversary Rivers and Coastal Group Conference on 7 March. It was held at Arcadis’ London office on Fenchurch Street, a wonderful location that immediately provided a relaxed professional backdrop for the day to come.It featured a full house of delegates – experts in the field who work in a great variety of spaces in the sector.

I opened the day with Hannah Burgess, the president of CIWEM (and former chair of the RCG) by describing who we are, from our start at the tail end of the 1940s, founded in response to the need to share the experiences and improve the performance of drainage engineers. I noted that the RCG has always been a home for those of us who work along our rivers and coastline, though our members’ work encompasses many disciplines and distinct geographies, both here in the UK and internationally.

We play a key role in developing our sector’s capabilities through technical visits and events such as this one, and we’ve long held an important role in facilitating and fostering professional development and continuous learning. Indeed, many readers will know of the group from our study days and weekends. These have included several overseas visits, including in 1975 when the group visited Valencia and came back with my chairman’s medal, which I proudly wore on the day of the conference.

A timely return for the RCG Conference

The conference couldn’t have come at a more important time, with the pressures of climate change and a growing population bringing increased challenges to the management of our rivers and coastline. Last year’s Flood & Coast conference highlighted the growing need for collaboration. As this is a core aim of the group, it felt like the right opportunity to bring back the RCG conference as a stand-alone event for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic. And it was an excuse to throw a bit of a birthday party!

Some of the feedback around Flood & Coast highlighted a need for a conference aimed at on-the-ground practitioners, and opened more discussion about the practicalities of delivering on policy in an uncertain time. This conference did exactly that.

Session 1: Translating flood risk management policy into practice

In the first session we heard about how flood risk policy can be translated into practice. While the speakers were from varied backgrounds, we heard lots of commonality in their thoughts, and all agreed that working in silos is a challenge with implementing policy.

Session 2: Navigating uncertainty – practical uncertainty in water quality data

In the second session we learnt a bit more about how uncertainty is managed in water quantity and water quality pursuits, how the approaches differ, and how in many ways they have similar issues and potentially similar solutions. A particularly poignant point made by Dr Sara Alexander from the Environment Agency stuck with me: “Uncertainty is personal, it means different things to different people. But personal doesn't mean it only affects you.”

Session 3: Application of flood risk policy in planning

In the third session, Peter Rook, CIWEM’s early careers president, held a really engaging workshop looking at how flood risk policy can be applied to planning applications. It was very insightful to see how the rigidness of some policy is challenging to apply on sites which are always unique. The RCG committee will be working with Peter to summarise the key findings from the workshop and will look to publish this via CIWEM in the near future. Watch this space.

Session 4: Postcards from the edge – policy to delivery in the coastal space

In the fourth session we saw an engaging discussion around the future of coastline management. The speakers reminded us that we must keep collaborating all the time and to remind ourselves of that fact continuously. A particularly sober but important point was made that while we talk about policy and adaptation, people are losing their homes.

Session 5: From planning policy to resilience: unpacking flood risk and insurance

Finally in the fifth session I enjoyed taking part in a lively debate around the gaps in taking plans through the planning process through to delivery. We also considered where those gaps can result in risks to future homeowners in the context of insurance provision.

Delegates getting into the detail

What was particularly important and inspiring was the confident and easy participation of the audience in the panel discussions that sandwiched the day. There were lots of interesting questions raised, and as a result, the conference felt all the more valuable for our attendees, who were able to get into the detail on these critical issues in our sector.

I also loved seeing the delegates carrying on the discussion in the breaks throughout the day. Indeed, after the event people stuck around to finish their thoughts and conversations as the event space was packed away around them. That really highlighted the genuine care and desire within the conference and the wider community to get a grip on uncertainty and tackle the issues we face head on.

For me the day was a perfect reflection of our wonderful rivers and coastal community as we move past 75 years. The need for collaboration is greater than ever and the RCG Conference was an incredible way of invigorating that. The topic of putting policy into practice – translating established policies and guidelines into real-world actions – and dealing with the considerable uncertainty that resides in our space, is something that I feel we have all benefited from discussing and thinking about in greater detail.

It is a great personal honour for me as chair to bring back this important conference after several years in the wilderness due to COVID. I look forward to seeing it go from strength to strength in future years.

You can read more about CIWEM’s Rivers and Coastal Group here, follow us on LinkedIn, and get in touch via email.

About the author: Peter O’Flaherty is the current chair of the Rivers and Coastal Group and practice manager at AtkinsRéalis.