The Square at DDW | Buurtpreppen

One in three people in the Netherlands has an emergency kit at home. Yet research shows that, in times of crisis, people are first and foremost dependent on their neighbours. They are the ones who pull you from the rubble (not the emergency services), who take you to a field hospital, or who come looking for you if you haven’t been seen for a while. It’s time to stop preparing only individually and start preparing together: time to get into neighbourhood prepping. But how do you get your neighbourhood on board?

The Fontys University of Applied Sciences’ research group Designing Journalism, in collaboration with the National Climate Platform, has developed the game A Bit of Neighbourhood Prepping (Potje Buurtpreppen), a special edition of Potje IJsbreken (“Breaking the Ice”). This playful activity helps neighbours strengthen their resilience together while getting to know each other better. The result? Not only a fun evening, but also a community that can truly rely on one another when an emergency arises.