News
Using story maps to turn evidence into action
The Irwell Catchment Partnership has developed a catchment ‘story map’ to help partners interrogate evidence and turn it into action on the ground.
The story map, along with the partnership’s vision and terms of reference, will serve as the overall Catchment Management Plan, driving evidence-based delivery to further improve the catchment.
The tool has been developed through Natural Course by GIS experts within The Rivers Trust, who worked closely with the Irwell Catchment Partnership and its host organisation, Groundwork MSSTT.
The tool makes available a large GIS evidence base including over 100 data sets, along with bespoke packages produced for the Irwell, including Natural Flood Management modelling (commissioned by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority), green infrastructure for water opportunity mapping produced City of Trees, the Environment Agency and United Utilities, a River Irwell focused evidence and measures report commissioned as part of Natural Course and the CaBA data package collated by The Rivers Trust.
Key features of the Irwell Story Map include:
-An introduction to each element of the evidence base, with illustrative hyperlinks.
-A customisable evidence map, which acts as an online GIS project. This map enables stakeholders to interrogate multiple layers of evidence at once, bookmark maps created and export these for use in documents, websites and emails.
In development, and to be published by the end of 2018, are also:
-A project business case development form, which will enable partners to build evidence-based projects, for consideration by the partnership.
-A monitoring submission form, to enable the partnership to create a monitoring plan, identifying locations where evidence is uncertain and/or further investigation, surveillance or appraisal of impact is required. The monitoring plan will also be used to gather further information to add to the catchment evidence base.
-A ‘Get Involved’ section, which will support members of the public to propose social action project ideas, report issues and find out about opportunities for volunteering within the catchment
For more information about the Irwell catchment story map, please contact: paula.pearson@groundwork.org.uk