Improving Water Resilience in Manchester, UK

Key Learnings

• Enhancing resilience and monitoring: Creating a park in a formerly heavily industrialised area has improved climate and water resilience in the district and delivers co-benefits to local residents. Early-on monitoring combined with site surveys, questionnaires and interviews provide a full picture of the park’s impact on flood risk reduction.
• Flood prevention through smart design: Several design elements, such as tree planters, specially designed to collect runoff from roads and sidewalks and filter pollutants, drainage ditches, rain gardens, permeable paving and an irrigation rill, effectively absorb excess water.
• Stakeholder engagement and effective frameworks: Collaborating with a diverse range of organisations working in the local area facilitates stakeholder engagement to receive local input and benefits. Consulting the local community has resulted in broad participation. A clear project scope enables acquiring relevant knowledge and skills to implement Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems, supported by material specifications and procedural frameworks.

Summary

The West Gorton Community Park in Manchester, UK, demonstrates how Nature-based Solutions combined with Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems provide a wide range of benefits to residents while reducing the flood risk in the area. Stakeholder engagement and participatory planning involving the local community are key to ongoing project success, increasing knowledge and raising awareness about Nature-based Solutions. The Living Lab enables the incorporation of lessons learned into Nature-based Solutions and Sustainable Urban Drainage System frameworks in response to different urban challenges.

Contact

Name: Michelle Oddy

Organisation: Manchester City Council

E-Mail: michelle [dot] oddymachester [dot] gov [dot] uk (michelle[dot]oddy[at]machester[dot]gov[dot]uk)