Five years ago, I did something crazy... A colleague in the Civil Engineering cluster at UWE had been approached by Dr. Helen Featherstone, then with the Science Communication Unit<\/a>, to submit a bid to the Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious grant<\/a> scheme but wasn\u2019t sure she had the time so passed my name on instead. It turned in to an amazing experience, including presenting in the\u00a0RI lecture theatre<\/a>!<\/p>\n Flood resilience can be addressed at multiple scales, from global c\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0o-operation to address climate change right down to nano-coatings that reduce water absorption of construction materials. Many of the most immediate gains are in property level flood resilience; the construction or adaptation of buildings to reduce the volume of water reaching habitable areas and make it easier to clean up any water that does get in. And to make that happen, you need to engage with people; helping them understand the risk to their property, explaining the technologies available, and encouraging proactive steps to minimise future flood damage. So when I saw a call for postgraduates to apply for funding to attend the Communicate 2017: Navigating Change<\/a> conference, I jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n The conference was over two days at Bristol Zoo, with a packed schedule that saw delegates dashing across the zoo between the Education Centre an I had already found one opportunity to break out of the engineering echo-chamber, presenting a paper at the Academic Archers conference<\/a> ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/engdes-student-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/128\/2017\/11\/A-pole-with-a-purpose-1-58x300.jpg\")
After the adventure, the central pole of the crocheted canopy was returned to its mundane life as a washing line prop and I returned to an annual cycle of classroom teaching and curriculum review. But participating in public engagement had made me realise that there was more beyond the walls; more to learn and more to share. And so, I took another crazy step; returning from teaching to learning to make good on previous missed opportunities and start a PhD, investigating flood resilience of masonry walls.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/engdes-student-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/128\/2017\/11\/Stag-beetle-sculpture-300x169.jpg\")
d the Pavilion for their personal pick of plenaries and toolbox talks. After the Opening Briefing had set the scene, of a public broadly convinced that climate is changing but still expecting engineers and researchers at Universities to fix the problem for them, I chose to Explore Echo Chambers. This considered both current and target groups, with an exploration of how putting the audience first and the message second could make communication more effective.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/engdes-student-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/128\/2017\/11\/University-of-Lincoln-1-300x254.jpg\")
looking at how Ambridge residents could develop their resilience to future flooding, which has now been published as a chapter in the book \u201cCustard, Culverts and Cake<\/a>\u201d, edited by Cara Courage and Nicola Headlam . This formed the basis of a poster for the Communicate 2017, prompting several interesting discussions about storylines and the potential for fiction to communicate truth in an era of fake news. And the book was also to form the basis for an interview with Steve Yabsley on BBC Radio Bristol, which made \u201cMeeting \u2013 and Surviving \u2013 the Media\u201d a clear choice for the Toolbox session after lunch! I had hoped to gain a few notes to ponder but the imminent interview meant I was selected as the guinea pig and had a chance to practice. This gave me useful feedback on presentation but also some suggestions of additional facts to have ready for a local audience.<\/p>\n
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