Somerset Adaptation Pathways
A new online tool is giving people the opportunity to explore the impacts of climate change on the Somerset Levels. The tool has been created as part of the Adapting the Levels project to help local people turn individual ideas into plans for collective action, focusing particularly on the challenges of flooding and drought. It is designed to encourage adaptation thinking in decision making, helping communities to be better prepared in a changing future.
The tool uses a cutting-edge technique that’s being employed around the globe to plan for climate change. ‘Adaptation Pathways’ are a simple way of looking at complex issues, to see how different options interact.
Adapting the Levels has worked with parish and town councils, businesses and communities to create draft pathways, which are available to explore online. They include reducing rainwater runoff from homes and gardens, managing flood risk in Wedmore and Langport, and managing flooding and drought on agricultural land. The tool is designed to be used on a tablet or desktop computer.
The adaptation plans can be used by parish councils looking at local issues such as surface water flooding, or to inform Somerset’s strategy with wider issues like river flooding or increasing agricultural pressures.
Everyone is invited to add their voice by visiting www.adaptingthelevels.co.uk
Adapting the Levels is a partnership between Somerset County Council, Somerset Wildlife Trust and the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group South West. It is funded by the EU’s Interreg 2 Seas Regional Development Fund and Somerset Rivers Authority.
