Resilient Catchment Communities
UK’s Shared Prosperity Fund
About the project
Resilient Catchment Communities (RCC) is a collaborative project and approach in community monitoring of river resilience, and capacity building and capability in the design, implementation and monitoring of community-led Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to deliver Integrated Catchment Management (ICM).
NBS address societal issues such as climate change to support ecosystems, biodiversity, and human well-being.
ICM is the coordinated delivery of water-based societal needs, such as flood risk, drought management, pollution control
and the protection of aquatic habitats and species,
in one approach.
Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)
After rainfall, water runs off our catchments quick and dirty causing flooding, pollution and at a later point drought, compared to a resilient system where water leaves slow and clean. NBS features are designed to reverse the simplification and speed up drainage patterns.
The project will increase community understanding of river resilience and the creation of six key NBS demonstration sites across Cornwall.
Through these, communities, farmers, environmental NGOs, contractors and funders can see how the density, diversity and interconnectedness of NBS measures can be delivered alongside sustainable food production and the farm
business model.
Our Funding & Partners
Although several organisations will help steer the project, such as the Environment Agency and the Cornwall and Tamar Catchment Partnerships, it is delivered through a tri-partite group of Westcountry Rivers Trust, University of Plymouth and Duchy College.
The aim of this grouping is to provide a virtual and physical platform to communicate and train people and communities on how river resilience (both water quantity and quality) is impacted by the built, farmed and natural assets upstream and how NBS can be designed and deployed alongside multiple drivers such as food and energy production.
This project is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund via Good Growth Cornwall & Isles of Scilly.
The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.
- Lead Organisation: Westcountry Rivers Trust, University of Plymouth and Duchy College
- Investment Priority: Supporting Local Business
- Fund: Net Zero and Resilience and Green Skills Programme
- SPF awarded: £470,000
- Location: Cornwall wide
