This is an archived project description

This information is provided to help illustrate the range of work UCVR has been involved in.

Hebden Bridge Town Hall
22nd June 2018

As part of their business network development for Calderdale Council and in association with the Incredible Festival of Ideas programme, Upper Calder Valley Renaissance (UCVR) is brought together the various strands which encompass the practicalities and spirit of being a resilient business community. The emphasis here was naturally related to flooding which has caused long-term economic effects, physical destruction, and community and individual traumas in the valley.

Conference organiser Katherine Wackerbarth said “at our day of ‘All Things Resilience’ we provided an insight into how our businesses coped with the flooding, the physical, social and economic clear up in addition to the long-term efforts of seeking both preventative solutions and recovery strategies which we can all learn from for future events. Events which many feel are inevitable with climate change and increases in extreme weather conditions”.

To present the experiences, actions taken, lessons learned and the future strategies, the UCVR gathered both members of the local business community and those with wider expertise to present on a range of measures which will develop the concept of holistic resilience.

Topics covered were:

• Economic Impact Assessment
• Support for Resilience
• Technology Resilience
• Personal Resilience
• Physical & Adaptive Resilience
• Community Engagement
• Building for Resilience
• Flood Related Health Precautions

Chair of the UCVR Stephen Curry said “this was always a planned event to both update local businesses, and those who support businesses, on resilience measures they can take, ranging from a plan of action when floods are likely, to recovery strategies based on good preparation and positive actions to alleviate such things as breaks in the supply chain. Businesses also learned about robust IT systems to get them back up and running, from alternate premises or just online if required”.

Stephen added “we have learned a lot in the Calder Valley about coping with adversity and the ongoing disruption flooding can cause, so this was also a great opportunity to showcase the resilience shown by the people of the valley as an inspiration to others around the county who have been or could be affected by extreme events”.