Klimaatparaatheid
Climate change increases the risk of flooding and other emergencies. While emergency kits focus on individual preparedness, research shows that in times of crisis we mainly depend on our neighbours. With Klimaatparaatheid, designers, journalists and climate experts explore how we can encourage ‘neighbourhood preparedness’: thinking together, practising together and building local networks.
Imagine this: on a cold winter’s day, the power goes out. The heating stops working, you can’t cook, and chances are your phone will soon run out of battery. You don’t know what’s happening. Is it local? Nationwide? A cyberattack? And where on earth is that emergency radio when you actually need it?
One in three people in the Netherlands has an emergency kit at home. But research shows that in a real emergency, your neighbours are your greatest asset. They are the ones who might pull you from the rubble, take you to hospital or check on you if they haven’t seen you for a while. So it’s time not only to prepare an emergency kit for ourselves, but to prepare people together for a potential crisis.
Klimaatparaatheid is built around the idea that real preparedness for crisis situations starts in the neighbourhood. Together with the Nationaal Klimaat Platform, designers Jessie Harms and Floor van der Wal and journalist Daphne van Paassen developed the game Potje IJs Breken. This game offers neighbours an accessible way to talk with one another about local climate challenges and possible solutions. Not only material resources matter here, but above all the social capital of residents themselves.
While playing, participants explore how they can make their own neighbourhood more resilient: from sharing resources to building mutual trust. The game has already been tested in several municipalities and has proven to be an effective way to raise awareness and strengthen a sense of collective responsibility.
Explore Klimaatparaatheid or other projects at df-veiligheid.nl
The publication was launched during Dutch Design Week, where this video was shown as part of Coalition for Safety in the Designing Society exhibition at Dutch Design Week.
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