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Research collaboration to assess impact of flooding on people and communities

Discussing flooding (c) Kerry Waylen
“We hope the project will be able to advance understanding of the long-term impacts of flooding, contribute to better flood risk management and make suggestions as to how personal and community resilience may be supported and enhanced in future flood events

Researchers at the James Hutton Institute and the University of Aberdeen are collaborating on a three-year research project to understand the long-term impacts of flooding on people and communities, one year on from the December 2015 and January 2016 flood events in Scotland.

Dr Mags Currie, a social scientist based at the Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences group of the James Hutton Institute in Aberdeen, said the research will help provide information about what types of support and advice people and communities need at different stages of a long-term recovery process.

“We hope the project will be able to advance understanding of the long-term impacts of flooding, contribute to better flood risk management and make suggestions as to how personal and community resilience may be supported and enhanced in future flood events,” Dr Currie said.

Ballater in Aberdeenshire has been selected as a case study area, and the research will be conducted through a survey of individuals and businesses, a subsequent media analysis (including social media) of reactions and responses to the flooding, and yearly interviews with individuals and businesses to track the impacts of the flooding.

The survey and interviews will be designed to ensure that a wide range of local residents, businesses and stakeholders associated with the communities have an opportunity to participate in the research.  The first phase of the interviews will take place from January to May 2017 and the survey will be distributed between February and May 2017.

The project is funded through the Centre of Expertise for Waters (CREW), a Scottish Government funded partnership between the James Hutton Institute and Scottish Universities, supported by the Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland (MASTS).

Anyone interested in finding out more about the project or taking part in it is welcome to contact Dr Currie by email or phone (01224 395 297).

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Printed from /news/research-collaboration-assess-impact-flooding-people-and-communities on 29/03/24 03:57:05 PM

The James Hutton Research Institute is the result of the merger in April 2011 of MLURI and SCRI. This merger formed a new powerhouse for research into food, land use, and climate change.