Testing and evaluation of communication formats to strengthen private heavy rain precautions - The Rain // Secure project

Description

Both the German Adaptation Strategy (Deutsche Anpassungsstrategie, DAS) and the DAS Progress Report formulate the promotion of private precautions as one of the aims of the participation processes for the further development and implementation of DAS by the German Federal Government. Specifically, DAS formulates the aim "mobilise individual initiative" and, the Progress Report, the "promotion of the initiative and voluntary commitment of stakeholders". Individual precautions means precautions, especially those taken by nonstate stakeholders, regarding the various effects of climate change, such as hot spells, drought, heavy rain and floods.

There is little research on whether this aim of strengthening individual precautions was achieved by previous DAS participation processes and formats. This "evaluation gap" is addressed by this project. Which participation formats are suited for achieving the aims specified by DAS and the Progress Report were investigated. The project focused on the climate change impact heavy rain and the resulting floods in urban and rural areas.

The project pursued two central aims:

1. A scientific interest in the question of which activation formats are particularly suitable for implementing the aims of strengthening individual precautions and the initiative of local stakeholders as set out in the DAS Progress Report;

2. On a practical level, the main objective of the project was to broaden and consolidate activation processes for climate adaptation.

Achieving these aims first required a central definition of assumptions about which psychological factors activation formats and should be considered in the creation of activation processes and how these can be measured. This, in turn, enabled the various activation formats to be evaluated individual precaution behaviors.

The result of the project are recommendations for municipalities to design effective activation formats for heavy rain prevention. In addition, an evaluation guide as well as scientifically sound questionnaire tools and materials for evaluating activation formats have been developed.

Note: the report is in German (Erprobung und Evaluierung von Kommunikationsformaten zur Stärkung privater Starkregenvorsorge - Das Projekt Regen//Sicher), with a summary in English on page 27

Reference information