Living with Floods Across Generations: Memory, imagination, and young people’s place-based understandings of risk

About the Project

Floods leave more than watermarks on walls; they become embedded in the social memory of communities, shaping how risk is understood and acted upon over time. In many places, narratives of past flood events continue to circulate through local flood resilience groups, informing present-day monitoring, preparedness, and decision-making.

This project explores how these memories are transmitted across generations, and in particular how children and young people encounter, interpret, and reshape them. While flood risk research has traditionally focused on adult knowledge and decision-making, this project shifts attention toward younger generations as active participants in the cultural and practical life of flood risk.

The research will examine how collective memories of flooding are formed and sustained, and how they shape not only present understandings of risk but also imagined futures. It will explore how these memories move through storytelling, schooling, and everyday interactions, and how they become part of the imaginative landscapes through which young people understand the places they live. A key focus is on how children and young people picture floods they may not have experienced, anticipate future events, and develop their own ways of understanding and preparing for risk.

The project will adopt a qualitative, case-based approach, working with communities that have active flood resilience groups. Methods are likely to include ethnographic fieldwork, intergenerational interviews, and participatory approaches with young people such as mapping, storytelling, and creative workshops. These will be complemented by analysis of local flood histories, community communication practices, and relevant educational materials. The project may also engage with flood warning and forecasting systems to explore how technical information is interpreted through lived and imagined experience.

This research will contribute to growing work on flood resilience by highlighting how imagination shapes the transmission of flood memory across generations. It will address a key gap in current research by focusing on children and young people, who are often overlooked despite their important role in shaping future responses to risk. The project will also offer insights for the development of more inclusive approaches to flood preparedness and anticipatory action, particularly in relation to community engagement and education.

The University of Reading is located west of London, England, is ranked at 194 globally, according to the QS World University Rankings 2026. 98% of research at the University is of international standing (REF 2021, combining the University’s world leading, internationally excellent and internationally recognised submissions). The University’s main Whiteknights Campus is set in 120 hectares of beautiful, award-winning parkland, less than a 30-minute train ride to London Paddington and is approximately 30 miles from London Heathrow airport.

How to apply:

To apply: submit an application for a PhD via our online application system. Please include a personal statement of up to 500 words, outlining why you would like to apply for this PhD. Quote Reference: DRC26-040

Funding Notes

Self-funded students only. Funding not yet secured. Candidates with access to their own funding are encouraged to apply. The supervisory team would consider working with a strong candidate to develop funding applications.

Eligibility: applicants should have a good bachelor’s degree (minimum UK 2:1 or equivalent) and/or a master’s degree in a relevant discipline such as human geography, environmental science, hydrology, sociology, or related fields. International applicants will also need to meet the University’s English Language requirements.

Informal Enquiries: Please Email Prof Hannah Cloke h.l.cloke@reading.ac.uk