A £1.5 million fund has been set aside to support innovative flood risk management solutions. An open competition was launched in November 2005 and the six successful projects were announced in January 2007. These are being funded to:
develop an educational tool to improve public understanding of the difficult decisions that are sometimes required in the management of our coasts thereby assisting implementation of more sustainable long term management policies;
investigate the contribution of land management practices to flood management in the Staffordshire Washlands catchment of the Rivers Trent, Sow and Penk;
work with the farming community to provide tools to landowners to assist with adaptation to change on the Essex coast;
demonstrate and help communicate the benefits of floodplain woodland for flood management;
develop an innovative and sustainable community-based adaptation programme for the coast at Slapton in South Devon;
demonstrate the benefits of integrating flood mitigation and environmental approaches such as sustainability, zero carbon and zero waste within urban developments.
The projects are being undertaken by a variety of public and private organisations and further details are on the DEFRA website.