FWR webinar: Are we really applying a systems approach to natural flood management?

A systems approach views an issue as part of a larger, interconnected whole rather than one component in isolation. The approach focuses on the relationships, patterns, and feedback loops among a system's individual parts to anticipate unintended consequences and find lasting solutions. The term ‘natural flood management’ (NFM) entered our lexicon in the early 2000s to articulate the concept of enhancing the environment to reduce flood risk and to signal a shift away from ‘hard’ engineering solutions.

In this webinar, the current appetite for promoting and implementing NFM will be examined through a systems-thinking lens. The hypothesis that our current approach to NFM embraces systems thinking will be interrogated through the use of real and conceptual examples from the UK and the conclusions will examine whether more environmentally sustainable outcomes could be delivered.

This webinar is free and open to all.

Our speaker

Rob McInnes is Managing Director of RM Wetlands & Environment Ltd, a former Associate Professor at Charles Sturt University, an independent Chartered Environmentalist and an accredited Professional Wetland Scientist with over 35 years’ experience in wetland-related environmental research, consultancy and conservation. He has worked on over 600 wetland-related projects both within the UK and in over 40 other countries and has knowledge extending across a range of wetland types from upland peatlands to lowland floodplains and urban lakes to domestic ponds. Rob has supported the work of intergovernmental agencies such as CBD, UNESCO, UN-Habitat and, in particular, the Convention on Wetlands (‘Ramsar Convention’) where he served on their Scientific and Technical Review Panel for 15 years. Rob also undertakes both practical and policy-related projects and training and capacity-building initiatives for local governments, governmental institutions, private companies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) including Wildlife Trusts, the National Trust, IUCN and Wetlands International and is currently an advisor to several of the UK’s Rivers Trusts. 

Prior to working independently, Rob was a Director at a UK-based independent ecological consultancy. Before this he was Head of Wetland Conservation at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and Managing Director of their specialist wetland consultancy, WWT Consulting. He has also worked in academia at the University of Exeter and Royal Holloway and in private consultancy. Rob established RM Wetlands & Environment Ltd in 2011 as a specialist consultancy dedicated to the delivery of the wise use of wetlands with the intention of making the business obsolete by the time he retired.

In addition to his project work Rob is a former President of the European Chapter of the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS), was elected as an International Fellow of SWS in 2018, has served as a board member of SWS, an Associate Editor on SWS’s journal Wetlands and has been awarded the President’s Service Award for the significant contributions he has made in promoting the goals of the Society. He is a former President of the SWS Professional Certification Program. Rob was previously an Associate Professor at the Institute of Land, Water and Society at Charles Sturt University, Australia. He regularly publishes articles in peer-reviewed papers, books, conference proceedings and more popular press items and presents findings of scientific and applied aspects of wetlands at international conferences and workshops as well as at local and site levels for non-expert audiences. 

Over his lifetime, it is estimated that the world has lost more than 13% of its remaining wetlands. This loss continues today.

Header image credit: © Alan Smithers via Adobe Stock