Community action on natural flood management and the governance of a <scp>catchment‐based</scp> approach in the <scp>UK</scp>

There is increasing interest in natural flood management (NFM) and the delivery of public environmental goods. Yet implementation NFM can be ad-hoc regionally diverse. Communities often play a role thus we assess governance UK communities' position within it. We develop theoretical framework using concepts goods, social capital, collective action polycentrism use it to examine design Pickering Calderdale Yorkshire, contribute debate on how should managed, by whom, under what arrangements. Drawing stakeholder interviews, find that participation community groups (CFGs) improved access strategic conversations risk (FRM). In turn CFGs raised profile NFM, enabled deployment measures, helped generate evidence base them. conclude there need for polycentric catchment-based approach better coordinate across between scales, support contribution strategy, foster sustainable management.