README file 
About the data set 
Title: Understanding Establishing Sustainable Community Flood Groups 
Creators: Sophie Laidlaw, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University (ORCID 0009-0004-1681-4057)
Neil Simcock, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University (ORCID 0000-0002-1408-962X)
Patrick Byrne, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University (ORCID 0000-0002-2699-052X)
Michael Landry, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, 
Tracy Garrett, National Flood Forum
Sarah Percival, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University (ORCID 0000-0002-8935-5822)
The creators hold the rights for the dataset
Year of publication: 2026
Description 
Background: Flooding is one of the most complex natural hazards and is expected to affect more people than any other. To reduce these impacts, research has shifted to more dynamic resilience-based approaches, including community flood groups. However, these groups can waver in their functionality and longevity, which is not well understood
Aim: To understand and analyse potential community flood group sustainability factors through utilising knowledge from group members as well as previous research (pilot study and desk study)
Design and method: Quali-quantitative analysis of online questionnaires, containing both open and closed questions. 132 responses were collated for analysis. These were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and NVivo.
Results: Over 69 factors were identified and sifted to produce a final 50 factors, split into 6 overarching themes. Many of the factors focused on communication, collaborations, relationships with Key Flood Actors, education and knowledge and group dynamics. These will be taken into consideration in the next stage of the wider research project. 
Conclusions: Community Flood Group members identified many potential strengths and weaknesses of their groups, which has allowed for potential sustainability factors to be identified and taken on to future phases. 
 This dataset should be cited as Laidlaw et al., (2026) using the DOI:
Contact details 
Sophie Laidlaw: S.M.Laidlaw@2017.ljmu.ac.uk
 Terms of use 
Please cite : Laidlaw, S., Simcock, N., Byrne, P., Landry, M., Garrett, T., and Percival, S (2026 ) Community Flood Group Sustainability Data. [Data Collection] DOI https://doi.org/10.24377/LJMU.d.00000271
Deed - Attribution 4.0 International - Creative Commons
 Project and funding information    
Project Title:  What social factors influence the durability and functionality of Community Flood Groups? A factor analysis 
This project is funded by Liverpool John Moores University
 Contents  
sustainablecommunityfloodgroupcoding.xlsx
CFGSustainabilityQuestionnaire.pdf
Methods  
Questionnaires were distributed online through a gatekeeper, to members of community flood groups. These were also shared on social media (LinkedIn and Facebook) by the gatekeeper and research team to reach more groups. The questionnaires assessed demographic data, participants opinions on the strengths and weaknesses of their groups, their relationships with key flood actors and their groups resilience. 132 responses were collected and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. 

Library services - README file Template Aug 2023