During a recent asbestos incident in a large municipality in the Netherlands, both the municipality and the housing corporation in question communicated with the residents. They forgot to harmonise their messages with each other. The result: residents who didn?t know what to do. That led to unnecessary risks, as well as worry and anger among the residents. There is a better way.
In the FloodControl 2015 program TNO researched the crisis communication process. Who is communicating what during a crisis? The TNO research team was supported by different crisis communication professionals from the field. A paper based version of a serious game was developed allowing training of crisis communication in a complex context.
All parties were very enthusiastic about the idea for this serious game. However a paper based version is not suited for training purpose. The current project will transform the paper based version into a digital serious game that is accessible via the web. At the end of the project not only the game will be available, but also the training. Ready to use!
The consortium of T-Xchange, IFV, Crisisplan and TNO was selected for co-financing by the HSD Development Fund for their proposal ‘De CrisisCommunicatieGame’. The serious game and training are intended for crisis communication professionals. With this game one or two trainers can provide a complex content based training for a group of communication professionals.
Crisis communication during incidents is becoming more and more important. And more complex. During the communication process, a network of partners with a communication interest soon materialise. It is important to map out that network as soon as possible so that you can work together, exchange information and harmonise messages. The public then receives better information faster and can act and react more adequately.
The Crisis Communication Game project focuses specifically on developing a training for this network aspect of crisis communication. This project was launched on 13 March 2014 at The Hague Security Delta Campus. A team consisting of TNO, T-Xchange, Netherlands Institute of Safety (IFV) and Crisisplan?is developing a serious game aimed at training crisis communication consultants. By playing this game, consultants will learn how to quickly map out the relevant network, gather and distribute information and harmonise the message with the other partners. The Crisis Communication Game enables groups to be trained more often without having to set up large response cells. The preconditions, learning objectives and in-game feedback are being drawn up together with experts in the field. The conceptual game and the training are expected to be available by April 2015.
To keep informed, follow:?www.decrisiscommunicationgame.nl