Client:
State Emergency Services (SES) NSW and Reconstruction Authority NSW
Project Overview:
Reconstruction NSW and the State Emergency Services (SES) initiated the Future Flood Initiative to engage the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley community and raise awareness about flood risks and preparedness.
As part of an ongoing initiative to address the community’s lack of compliance with evacuation orders during recent flooding events, NSW SES developed a video campaign to drive behavioural change. Research found that 70% of Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley residents in the 2021-2022 major floods who saw or heard evacuation warnings did not leave. The ‘Future Flood’ videos aimed to change this.
Objective:
The primary objective of the Future Flood Initiative was to create a behavioural change within the community. The goal was to increase awareness and understanding of the urgency surrounding evacuation orders and the severe risks associated with flooding events.
Our Role:
Our team was engaged to provide a comprehensive community engagement program, including the execution of five pop-up events across key locations in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley region.
The Future Flood campaign was displayed on TV screens to draw the attention of the community, sparking conversation and creating an opportunity to provide further information on flood preparedness.
Challenges:
- Logistical safety: Coordinating audio-visual equipment at pop-up engagements became difficult at times, specifically, when managing outdoor weather conditions such as heavy rain at the BlueBet Stadium pop-up.
- Cultural and demographic variation: The town locations had varying levels of knowledge of climate and weather events in the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley region. For example, Elara featured a large percentage of ‘new-to-the-area’ residents in comparison to Richmond. Adapting messaging to provide tailored education was required.
Outcome:
The initiative successfully delivered five pop-up events in the following locations:
- Elara Shopping Centre
- Windsor Sunday Markets
- Richmond Marketplace
- Penrith Westfield
- Emu Plains Lennox Village
Each pop-up event included an awareness campaign video and interactive engagement activities, reaching a total of 10,222 people. Addressing challenges from the previous round of pop-up engagement, Captivate Consulting was able to increase community reach sufficiently, engaging 655 participants in conversation, a 368% increase from the previous engagement.
This successful campaign had a positive impact on ensuring the Hawkesbury Nepean Valley area is well-equipped to prepare for flooding in the future. Striving towards the campaign objective, the pop-up engagement effectively tested video awareness levels in the community and increased awareness levels in each location, varying between 33-67%. Captivate consultants assisted the community in their preparation for future flood events, increasing downloads of the Hazards Near Me application by up to 36% among participants.
Why Captivate Consulting:
Our approach to community engagement is grounded in innovative techniques that facilitate meaningful dialogue and gather insightful feedback. We employ a variety of interactive methods at pop-up engagement events, ensuring that the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley community had a positive association with the client.
Start engaging with your community today.
Fill in your email address below and we will be in touch to discuss your next project.
