GRCC is heading up the community engagement component of the ‘Churn Natural Flood Management Project’. 

Citizen Science – Explore Your River Days

As part of this project, we are running a series of volunteer ‘Explore Your River’ Days throughout August and September 2026. These are free opportunities to meet people in your community, explore the local area, and develop practical skills! 

If you'd like to be involved in the project, or kept informed about what we're doing, please register your interest using this online form.

Other Engagement Events

Over the course of this project, we will be organising a variety of community engagement events to celebrate the Churn NFM work. Keep an eye on the Project News box below, or register your interest if you'd like to be kept informed by email.

What is Natural Flood Management (NFM)?

Rather than relying on traditional flood defences, NFM works with nature to try and increase our communities’ resilience to flooding. Examples of NFM measures include leaky dams, reconnecting rivers with their floodplains, tree planting, soil management or even beaver reintroductions! You can read more about NFM in Gloucestershire on Gloucestershire County Council’s webpage here. 

What is happening in the River Churn?

Gloucestershire County Council, FWAG, and local citizen science groups are coming together as part of “Thames Source Natural Flood Management (NFM) - Renaturalising the Churn”. This scheme aims to deliver a series of Natural Flood Management (NFM) work in the river to "slow the flow" of water, improve local biodiversity, and mitigate local flood risk.

How is GRCC involved?

GRCC has a long history of enabling the development of active, thriving communities. Our support aims to build the capacity, skills and knowledge within our communities to help local people adapt to an ever-changing landscape. 

GRCC is working with communities in the Churn catchment to support this NFM project. Successful flood mitigation projects rely on community involvement and understanding. Our community engagement programme will bring together local residents, parish/town councils, and community groups to build stronger connections between people and their local waterways, learn more about the churn catchment and NFM, and support this wonderful project as it comes into fruition.

Contact us for more information

If you'd like more information about this project, please email cdt@grcc.org.uk or call us on 01452 528491.