This project arose from an OSI mission to the People’s Republic of China in March 2005. The aim of the mission was to brief Chinese stakeholders and experts on the methodology and findings of the Foresight Flood and Coastal Defence Project (http://www.foresight.gov.uk/Previous_Projects/Flood_and_Coastal_Defence) in order to:

• Create a network of UK and Chinese experts
• Provide an opportunity for international application of the Foresight initiative through a similar project in China.

A project proposal was developed by members of the UK Foresight Future Flooding team in cooperation with staff from the Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), Beijing, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Water Resources, Beijing and the Taihu Basin Authority (TBA), Shanghai (http://www.tba.gov.cn).

The concept of the project was one of scientific cooperation, with the UK team providing expert assistance to Chinese colleagues who produced the climate and socio-economic forecasts and developed appropriate flood risk management tools.

The Taihu Basin and Shanghai

Joint Project Directors
Professor Edward Evans, Special Professor, University of Nottingham. Professor Cheng Xiaotao, Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR), Beijing (http://www.iwhr.com/English.asp)

Principal Investigator
Professor Colin Thorne, University of Nottingham

Funding
This is a complex, international foresight project, with multiple cooperating research organisations and multiple funders:

• The UK Government Office for Science (formerly the Office of Science and Innovation(OSI)) (www.bis.gov.uk/go-science)
• The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Global Opportunities Fund
• The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)
• The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
• The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)
• The Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China