Resilient Catchment Communities (RCC) is a collaborative project and approach in community monitoring of river resilience, and capacity building and capability in the design, implementation and monitoring of community-led Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) to deliver Integrated Catchment Management (ICM).

NBS address societal issues such as climate change to support ecosystems, biodiversity, and human well-being. ICM is the coordinated delivery of water-based societal needs, such as flood risk, drought management, pollution control and the protection of aquatic habitats and species, in one approach.

After rainfall, water runs off our catchments quick and dirty causing flooding, pollution and at a later point drought, compared to a resilient system where water leaves slow and clean. NBS features are designed to reverse the simplification and speed up drainage patterns.

The Resilient Catchment Communities project is led by Westcountry Rivers Trust, in collaboration with Duchy College and the University of Plymouth.  It will increase community understanding of river resilience and create six  NBS demonstration sites across Cornwall, with a central demonstration ‘hub’ at the Duchy College Home Farm.

Through these, communities, farmers, environmental NGOs, contractors and funders can see how the density, diversity and interconnectedness of NBS measures can be delivered alongside sustainable food production and the farm business model.

This project is part- funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund via Good Growth Cornwall & Isles of Scilly. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.