Institution news
Q: Could you briefly explain your role, involvement and experience with regards to flooding risk and protection?
Doogie Black (DB): I have worked on “adaptation to climate change” for the past 17 years and began in 2003 on the ESPACE Project which was the first international project looking at flood risk in Europe. Flooding remains a major component of most of the work I do. My main expertise is in working with all types of organisations, and systems of organisations (e.g. sectors) to build their capability to embed climate change resilience within their relevant decision making.
Q: What are the main engineering challenges being encountered when it comes to preparing your assets against changes in climatic conditions?
DB: The engineers I have worked with face a wide range of challenges. For those who are just beginning to think about climate change, they often feel overwhelmed by the amount of data available and are unsure how to select the best climate change data for the right engineering decision. For those who are more advanced in their understanding, they can often be frustrated that the decision-makers in their organisation do not support their chosen best options – for example – governance structures, budgets, leadership behaviours, and so on – are often not supportive of their new ideas.
Q: Where do you think the main solution to rising sea levels lies in terms of retrofitting infrastructure?
DB: In collaborative working across all those affected and those who have a role in coordinating responses - ensuring that all those who are responsible for delivering the adaptation measures have close links with those who set the strategic and policy direction. National policy and strategy must remain adaptive and realistic. They must be continually updated by lessons learnt in delivering them on the ground (especially as new information, understanding and technologies become available).
Q: Why do you think it is so important for engineers to join in the future discussion around industrial flooding?
DB: Engineers play a critical role in developing our nation’s resilience to climate change. They often know what the best practical and technical responses should look like. However, knowing how to engineer our way out of this problem is just one part of the battle. To make full use of our engineers’ essential skills and ideas, the decision-making processes (from business and finance, to local planning and national policy) need to change in order to have these engineering solutions implemented. Just because a certain technical response exists, does not mean it is being used. Joining in these discussions will help ensure that engineers’ voices can be heard. This will ensure that their known solutions can be adopted, and that their good ideas and practices can be shared.
The Industrial Flooding seminar on 18 March will form part of a two-day climate change focused event with a half-day pre-seminar workshop on the new BS EN ISO 14090 standard, taking place on 17 March.
Key reasons to attend:
- Hear case studies from leading engineering organisations including E.ON, EDF Energy, Yorkshire Water, AWE and Anglian Water
- Make the most out of flood modelling to predict flow paths and rates to make the right planning choices
- Learn best practice for retrofitting current assets as well as designing new assets to withstand more frequent and increased severity of weather events
- Ensure you are meeting the requirements of the new standard BS EN ISO 14090 by attending our half-day workshop hosted by Climate Sense and BSI
- Network with health, safety and environment, flooding risk managers, design engineers from engineering organisations as well as experts from government agencies, academia and flooding protection providers.
To book your place, please visit www.imeche.org/industrialflooding.