When memories come flooding back... - Sustainable Flood Memories (1997-2024) in Lower Silesia, Poland

Alicja Pietruszka

My name is Alicja, I come from a small town in south-western Poland, and I am a student on the MSc Global Decarbonisation and Climate Change programme. Having studied Geography at the undergraduate level, I have a profound interest in societal responses to environmental change.

About the Project

Located in south-western Poland, the region of Lower Silesia has faced tragic flooding throughout its history. This project focuses on two events that occurred within living memory, in July 1997 and in September 2024, to examine how flood memories held by communities can shape responses to future events.

Employing the Sustainable Flood Memories framework developed in the United Kingdom, the project mapped flood memories from both events in rural and urban areas across the region in an ArcGIS StoryMap. This mapping exercise compiled audiovisual, textual and oral memories and testimonies collected through research and conversation with family members. The process revealed that the preservation of flood memories is particularly crucial in rural areas, which are often omitted from flood defence schemes and receive limited support during flood events. Therefore, the StoryMap itself acts as an archive of flood memories, plotting both affected areas and community efforts to ensure their sustainability.