Sylvia M. Tunstall

Vulnerability to flooding: health and social dimensions

This paper presents research results on the impacts that floods can have on the people affected, thus complementing the existing data on the monetary losses liable to occur in flood events. Both datasets should be used when deciding on investment in flood defence measures. We report on research on the vulnerability of flood–affected communities to adverse health effects, and the development of an index of community vulnerability based on extensive focus–group research and secondary–source census data.

Floods as Catalysts for Policy Change: Historical Lessons from England and Wales

The tied relationship between flood disasters and the demand for a policy response is well known. What is not well known is how and why particular policy ideas emerge as policy change options. Drawing on the public policy theoretical literature, the paper evaluates the policy impact of four of the most significant flood disasters in England and Wales in the past 50 years. In so doing, it seeks to highlight which of the environmental, contextual and behavioural drivers have, in the past, been critical factors in the elevation of policy options to policy agendas. By monitoring changes in such drivers we can offer an understanding of the potential policy changes that may occur in response to flood disasters in the future.

Ecological versus Social Restoration? How Urban River Restoration Challenges but Also Fails to Challenge the Science – Policy Nexus in the United Kingdom

Ecological restoration is an expanding area of science and practice for environmental management, but in urban environments in particular its challenge to traditional approaches can be limited because it is seen primarily as a scientific or practical endeavour rather than a social one. In general, the restoration literature, especially on the scientific and practitioner side, suffers from the ‘deficit model’ of public understanding and from a lack of fit between the expectations of restoration and policy workers and those of their local publics. Hence, the irony is that, although restorationists may be seen as radical in scientific and policy terms because of their challenge to the tradition of the ‘hard engineering’ of rivers, they are not radical in social science terms because they fail to challenge the tradition of technocratic environmental management of the public and its deficit model. We illustrate this through two examples of urban river restoration in England—the Alt and the Brent—and we conclude by suggesting how such problems might be addressed through more emphasis on and integration of social science within research and practical agendas for urban restoration projects.

The English beach: experiences and values

This paper reports on a decade of empirical research on the experiences and perceptions of English beach users. Surveys have been conducted at 15 locations and interviews held with nearly 4000 people to gain insights into the meanings that beach experiences have for them, and the values that they attach to these and their associations. This research indicates that the dominant meanings of beaches for those interviewed are linked to concepts of naturalness and their own personal experiences in childhood and earlier years, while the values relate to the associations that beaches have, and to the games and other activities carried out there. There is a strong conservative tendency in the wish to see the coastal status quo maintained, despite the fact that the typical English beach of the resort type mainly surveyed here is actively managed and is the product of intensive human intervention.

Translating nature: river restoration as nature - culture

In this paper we examine the process of river restoration at the river Cole in southern England. We argue that analysing such environmental transformations as actor-network translations or ‘nature-cultures’ can provide an integrative perspective on the process of restoration and its intertwining of natural and human actors and help to avoid the traps of defining ‘nature’ and separating it from society; traps which open up before environmental philosophy when examining restoration. However, a translation perspective is less helpful in evaluating or prescribing restoration as environmental management.

How Stable are Public Responses to Changing Local Environments? A 'Before' and 'After' Case Study of River Restoration

This paper considers the stability of public responses to an urban river restoration scheme on the River Skerne, Darlington, UK, by comparing the results from surveys of local residents carried out before and after scheme implementation. This case study provides evidence of strong and generally consistent positive responses to the proposals and implemented scheme to return the straightened and channelized river to a more natural condition although support was more qualified after than before implementation. Although the scheme design and construction costs were high, nearly two-thirds regarded the scheme as value for money. Exploratory contingent valuation results on whether or not local residents were prepared to pay for the scheme were broadly stable over the two surveys.

Risk communication in emergency response to a simulated extreme flood

Abstract Risk communication in flood incident management can be improved through developing hydrometeorological and engineering models used as tools for communicating risk between scientists and emergency management professionals. A range of such models and tools was evaluated by participating flood emergency managers during a 4-day, real-time simulation of an extreme event in the Thamesmead area in the Thames estuary close to London, England. Emergency managers have different communication needs and value new tools differently, but the indications are that a range of new tools could be beneficial in flood incident management. Provided they are communicated large model uncertainties are not necessarily unwelcome among flood emergency managers. Even so they are cautious about sharing the ownership of weather and flood modelling uncertainties.

New insights into the benefits of flood warnings: Results from a household survey in England and Wales

Abstract The flood defence agency in England and Wales has been pursuing a programme of flood warning system enhancement, engaging householders at risk in improving their warning responses. The immediate aim of this paper is to test and revise a model of economic benefits of warnings, but the survey data also generate insights into the constraints acting upon flood warning responses. Damage saving is less than previously anticipated: warning reliability and householder availability problems limit savings. Warnings are less likely to be received by those in lower social grades, and flood warning lead time is a factor in avoiding damage. The survey data indicate the complexities involved in improving flood warning response, and provide policy pointers.

Growing up with rivers? Rivers in London children’s worlds

This paper presents the results from exploratory research which set out to investigate London childrens perceptions and uses of river environments. Mainly qualitative, multi method research was carried out in four primary schools with children aged 9-1 1, focusing on two rivers near to the schools. Rivers were found to be marginal to the childrens everyday lives and outdoor play, being perceived as polluted, neglected, and initially dangerous places. However, when experienced on visits observed as part of the research, some of these perceptions changed and rivers were also found to afford many special activities and experiences for the children. The visits were generally seen to have a positive effect on the childrens perceptions of rivers, at least in the short term. This suggests that, if managed appropriately, rivers could be potentially rewarding play areas for children. Moreover, children could provide valuable input for river managers in suggesting ways of improving suitable local rivers for increased recreational uses.

Children's perceptions of river landscapes and play: what children's photographs reveal

The insights that childrens photography can provide into childrens perceptions of river landscapes and play opportunities are focused upon, based on an analysis of over 500 photographs and comments generated during visits to two London rivers by children aged nine to eleven from three nearby schools. In their photographs, the children recognized the aesthetic appeal of specific natural features of the river landscapes, particularly trees. Some also appreciated broader river landscape ‘views’. The rivers themselves were seen as littered and polluted. Dangers were identified, but these were not seen as unmanageable. The children recognized the special character of the rivers as play places affording varied, adventurous and manipulable play opportunities, but wanted cleaner, safer, more accessible and managed rivers. Some differences were found in the responses of boys and girls and in the childrens responses to the two rivers. The urban children taking part in the study showed little understanding of the functions that living and decaying riverside vegetation might have in river ecology, indicating a need for more environmental education.