Three inspiring days in Newcastle at the Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival!
The Mainstreaming Nature-based Solutions (MNbS) programme team had the opportunity to host a joint sprint with Mott MacDonald, focused on developing a Catchment Resilience Pathway – an outcomes-focused approach to addressing the complex and interconnected challenges facing our water systems.
Rather than tackling issues in isolation or focusing solely on regulatory requirements, the pathway takes a whole-catchment perspective. The aim is to bring sectors together to address shared challenges, unlock multiple benefits, and build long-term resilience for communities, nature, and the environment.
One of the biggest takeaways from the sprint was the value of collaboration across sectors. Alongside colleagues from the water industry, we welcomed representatives from government, regulators, environmental NGOs, transport, agriculture, land management, flooding, highways, landscape finance and many others. Bringing such a diverse range of perspectives into the room sparked valuable conversations and fresh ideas.
💬 Eleni Coldwell, Programme Manager “The sprint was a great reminder of the value of bringing together people with different experiences and perspectives. My key reflection is that transport, energy and water sectors have far more in common than we often realise, particularly around resilience, sustainability and delivering better outcomes. Collaboration across sectors is essential to creating lasting impact.”
💬 Kieran Murnane, Project Manager “It was fantastic to collaborate with representatives from across and beyond the water sector. The valuable contributions, expertise and generosity of time from everyone involved helped make the sprint a huge success. Thank you to everyone who took part.”
💬 Natalie Coffey, Stakeholder Engagement Coordinator “What stood out was the breadth of organisations involved—not just the usual water sector voices, but representatives from highways, the NFU, the Department for Transport, Carter Jonas and more. Bringing different perspectives into the room generated some great discussions and ideas. The energy throughout the sprint was fantastic, helped in no small part by James from True Place, who kept us focused and engaged—even as the temperatures rose!”
💬 Arron Lawrence, Project Coordinator “There’s something incredibly powerful about bringing experts from different industries together to tackle shared challenges. Seeing a range of perspectives contribute to shaping a Catchment Resilience Pathway has been fascinating, and I’m looking forward to seeing the outputs and helping drive this work forward.”
A huge thank you to everyone who contributed, challenged thinking, and helped shape the discussion. Events like this demonstrate the power of collaboration in creating more resilient catchments and delivering better outcomes for people, places and nature.
