30 Days, 30 Ways UK is a preparedness and community resilience campaign which started in Northamptonshire. Originally, the ‘preparedness games’ concept was developed by the Clark Regional Emergency Services in Vancouver, Washington. The campaign starts in September every year in line with National Preparedness Month. The aim is to turn the idea of preparedness into a game and asks people to plan for a range of emergencies including fires in the home, power cuts and flooding. Over 30 days every September, all-hazard themed messages and resources are shared by a wide range of partners over social media, e.g. twitter, facebook, instagram and youtube. Topics are based on the National Risk Register and local community risk registers (available via the Local Resilience Forums). Content is integrated and expands from existing public awareness campaigns e.g. safety and security ‘run – hide – tell’, EA ‘floodaware’, NHS ‘choose well’ and ‘hand washing’ as well as mental health and well-being resources. Additional themes such as ‘what emergency?’, ‘home preparedness’ and ‘pet preparedness’ etc. are created and shared in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders and partners. The approach is positive psychology based. It is lighthearted, using humour to engage, inform, inspire and empower. A bingo card with disaster icons to cross off is proposed as game to to keep track of personal preparedness progress giving a sense of win and achievement as each theme is crossed of. It also acts as a ‘bridge’, connecting online content to individuals and their communities on the ground in ‘the real world’. Campaign monitoring and evaluation is via open source social media analytics and surveys. Reports are published annually.
High digital literacy is important as this solution is applied only online. Organisations implementing this solution should be in condition to design messages that align with the public needs.
While this solution intends to reach the society at different ages and raise awareness about possible hazards, it is most likely to reach younger generations as they are usually better versed with technology.
It is central to evaluate both process and outcomes of the monthly campaign to make sure actions are well targeted and appropriate for the different target groups.
Preparedness should be proactive. The perception of responsibility for preparedness and resilience are best built little by little as part of everyday life. For instance, a best practice is represented by the LIVE preparedness games every day in September addressing diverse topics, sharing advice and resources.
Campaigns should be designed with significant creativity to catch citizens' attention and engagement.
The program runs since 2015 and there was an increased interest and citizen participation. In particular, there was a growth of participant over the years with a 2019 twitter reach of 12.5 million. In the same year the number of participant organizations reached over 650 partners contributing on an entirely voluntary basis. The trend of quantitative (open source analytics through google, twitter, facebook and TAGs) and qualitative feedback is very positive. Quotes from the qualitative feedback are: “It has prepared me and others for general and specific emergencies” and “great recommendations each day on a wide variety of situations”. These feedback are collected and analysed yearly in reports available under the Publication Section at the address: https://www.30days30waysuk.org.uk/about-us/ Public feedback are collected through a form available online at the address: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1V_s0iiitR3dYInXz5uNdskW7gpFf8LVr7QeGj8akK_o/viewform?edit_requested=true
As for the effect on citizen preparedness (real objective of the Solution) trends are identified and analyzed in the yearly reports described above, while a longitudinal survey is in progress through a short anonymous questionnaire available at the address: https://northnorthants.citizenspace.com/emergency-planning/how-prepared-are-you/
Additionally links to reports and specific material for kids and schools and individuals: https://www.30days30waysuk.org.uk/individuals/ - https://www.30days30waysuk.org.uk/kids/ - https://www.30days30waysuk.org.uk/schools/
The Solution is a container for guidance and awareness raising material proposed daily during the month of September. The effectiveness of the message depends on the quality and the content of this material that is prepared in collaboration by all the organizations involved. Therefore uptake and impact can vary. A challenge that was noticed is that the reports show reduced participation over the years, the reports do not show evidence to why that is.