Water Data for People: A Toolkit for Engaging Schools and Communities with Sustainable Drainage
University of Hull | Hull | United Kingdom
Case Study Presentation | 2pm – 2.45pm, BST (Find Local Time)
Duration: Maximum 45 minutes
Platform: MS Teams
Description: Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) are a central component of climate adaptation in flood risk communities, yet retrofit schemes frequently encounter objection and misunderstanding from the very residents they are designed to protect. This session presents Water Data for People, a University of Hull project addressing that gap through climate education rooted in local evidence.
Working with schools in Doncaster, Immingham and Grimsby, and alongside major SuDS installations delivered by the DIG programme, the project combined hyperlocal water data from SuDS monitoring stations with creative and participatory methods. Pupils encountered adaptation infrastructure at scales ranging from a planter they built themselves to the raingardens beyond their school gates, connecting abstract climate projections to observable change in their own streets.
The session introduces a resulting toolkit of workshop activities and data resources, designed for delivery by teachers, community leaders and industry professionals. We report on evaluation evidence gathered across participating schools, and consider what it indicates about building the public understanding on which successful adaptation depends. We close by reflecting on implications for practitioners commissioning and delivering retrofit schemes.