Dubbed "The People-Water Futures Network," the initiative bridges the gap between environmental sciences and the social, emotional, and economic realities of flooding.
Led by Dr Katie Parsons, the network has already attracted significant external interest and provides an important pathway for interdisciplinary collaboration, external engagement and future research and innovation funding.
The network aims to work under the idea that flooding is not just about water moving through landscapes, but is about people, homes, schools, services, infrastructure, health, inequality, livelihoods and futures. FloodScapes starts from this people-centred understanding of flood risk and works across disciplines and sectors to support more just, resilient and actionable flood futures.
Flooding affects homes, infrastructure, public services, landscapes, wellbeing, livelihoods and futures. It also raises urgent questions about inequality, resilience, adaptation, governance and whose knowledge counts in decision-making.
The University-wide network was launched on 30 June, and features expertise from across the university, in geography, engineering, business, design and computer science departments.
The launch event featured a keynote address from John Curtin, President of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM).
Curtin highlighted a stark "response deficit" in public preparedness. Despite rising global risks, only 11% of UK families have established flood plans—dropping to just 6% for those living directly within high-risk floodplains. He urged researchers to focus heavily on the "last mile" where science, policy, and community action intersect.
FloodScapes builds upon a proven track record of translation at Loughborough, including Previsico—the successful commercial spinout delivering real-time, street-level surface water warnings to emergency services and insurers.
During the launch, cross-sector partners from the Environment Agency, multinational consultancies, insurers, healthcare providers, and volunteer flood wardens discussed the acceleration of river flooding and its severe disruption to social care systems.
Dr Katie Parsons, Research Fellow in Human Geography and lead of the Floodscapes network, said: “Flooding is never simply about water. It is about people, places, health, livelihoods, infrastructure and inequality — and about how communities are able to prepare, respond and recover.
"FloodScapes brings together expertise from across Loughborough and beyond to tackle those challenges in a genuinely integrated way, connecting world-leading science and technology with the lived realities of flooding. Our ambition is to turn that interdisciplinary strength into practical action: better preparedness, more resilient places and fairer flood futures.”
Dr Jeevun Sandher, MP for Loughborough, said of the network: "I've seen just how devastating flooding can be. It's so important our community are equipped to face the challenges climate change is bringing. It’s great to see Loughborough University leading on research like this with Floodscapes, bringing real expertise to bear on building resilience and protecting our community."
Moving forward, the network will collaborate on smarter landscape interventions, natural nature-based drainage, and design frameworks that drive behavioral change before disaster strikes.
Further information is available on the FloodScapes website.