ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The preparation of this report was carried out with assistance from the Government of Canada and the Federation
of Canadian Municipalities, with additional funding from Columbia Basin Trust and participating local governments.
The project was led by the Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute with contributions from external experts
and local governments.
We acknowledge the following individuals and their contributions to this report:

Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute
Alexandra Buhr
Jayme Jones
Lauren Rethoret

The City of Nelson and Nelson Fire & Rescue
Heather Slack
Len MacCharles
Kate Letizia

The Town of Golden
Kyle Hale
Chris Cochran

The City of Rossland
Stacey Lightbourne
Thank you to Dr. Doug McKenzie-Mohr, Jennifer McLarty, Kamala Melzack and Michael Dill for their contributions to
this project. Additional thanks to the local businesses that were involved, including Nelson Pharmasave, Hipperson
Home Hardware, Valhalla Pure, Mountain Baby, and Ferraro Foods Rossland.

Notwithstanding this support, the views expressed are the personal views of the authors and the Federation of
Canadian Municipalities and the Government of Canada accept no responsibility for them.

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................................................1
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................3
About the Project ......................................................................................................................................................3
Objective ...................................................................................................................................................................3
Community-Based Social Marketing .........................................................................................................................3
Barrier and Benefit Research During COVID-19 ........................................................................................................4
Community-Based Social Marketing Strategies .............................................................................................................5
About the Strategies .................................................................................................................................................5
The Town of Golden: Capacity-Intensive Social Diffusion .........................................................................................5
The City of Nelson: Information-Intensive Campaign with a Pledge.........................................................................9
The City of Rossland: Incentivized, Hands-Off Approach ........................................................................................13
Project Limitations and Lessons ..............................................................................................................................17
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................18

2

INTRODUCTION
About the Project
In spring 2020, a Climate Change Adaptation Intern, Alexandra Buhr, was hired by the Columbia Basin Rural
Development Institute (RDI) in the Applied Research and Innovation Centre at Selkirk College. The position was
created to help address low levels of personal emergency preparedness in local communities, which emerged as a
priority capacity building need as part of the RDI’s Rural Climate Adaptation Project.
Using community-based social marketing as a framework, emergency preparedness-enhancing strategies were
developed, piloted, and evaluated in three unique Columbia Basin communities—Rossland, Golden and Nelson. An
overview of CBSM can be found below, with additional reference materials hyperlinked throughout this document.

Objective
The main objective of the Household Emergency Preparedness: Community-Based Social Marketing Pilot was
capacity building. Regardless of the strategies’ outcomes, the knowledge gained from this pilot project is valuable in
enhancing future emergency preparedness efforts at the local government level.

Community-Based Social Marketing
Community-based social marketing (CBSM) is an effective tool for encouraging positive social change in populations.
CBSM marries the principles of psychology and social marketing, and offers a boost to traditional informationintensive campaigns. While information-intensive campaigns are great tools for communicating with the public, they
are generally ineffective at influencing lasting behavioral changes in communities. CBSM uses engaging techniques
like pledges, commitments, prompts, incentives, and social pressures, all of which actively involve the target
population in the adoption of sustainable behaviors. CBSM’s formula for developing successful strategies is
supported by years of reputable research and case studies. CBSM uses a 5-step approach: (1) selecting behaviors, (2)
identifying barriers and benefits, (3) developing strategies, (4) piloting, and (5) broad-scale implementation.
Completing a household emergency preparedness plan or assembling an emergency preparedness kit were the focal
behaviors for this project.
Barrier and benefit research is the most essential step in a successful CBSM strategy. It is also the most timeconsuming. Barriers are the roadblocks that reduce the likelihood of a target population adopting a positive
behavior. For example, a barrier to completing a household emergency preparedness plan could be access to a
printer to print PreparedBC’s template. To circumvent this issue, templates could be printed and delivered to all
households in the community, so that everybody has a convenient opportunity to become emergency prepared.
It is imperative that barrier and benefit research is not rushed, as this information lays the foundation for the entire
strategy. It is recommended that barrier and benefit research draws from at least two of the following methods:
literature reviews, surveys, focus groups, intercept surveys, and where appropriate, discreet observations. After
completing barrier and benefit research, the strategy can be designed and applied on a small, representative pilot
population. Depending on efficacy, refinements may be made prior to implementing the strategy at a larger scale.
Successful CBSM strategies offer a framework or reference point for those looking to achieve similar behavioral
outcomes in a population. However, CBSM strategies transplanted from one population to another without
consideration of a community’s unique barriers may be ineffective. If a CBSM strategy proves effective in one area
of town, but ineffective in a neighboring area, the barriers unique to the latter population must to be considered
and factored in to the strategy revision.

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Barrier and Benefit Research During COVID-19
The most successful CBSM strategies are prefaced by thorough barrier and benefit research that reflects the specific
context of the community in which the marketing will occur. This project, however, had a limited scope and was
delivered during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. To remain in compliance with provincial health
recommendations, barrier and benefit research was done virtually. This limitation resulted in an imperfect
understanding of the pilot communities’ barriers and benefits.
Some barriers to personal emergency preparedness were identified in the 2017 British Columbia Personal
Preparedness Survey Report, carried out by Ipsos Public Affairs. This survey provided a broad perspective of
household emergency preparedness in the province, including barriers that prevented respondents from completing
an emergency plan or assembling an emergency preparedness kit. Additionally, community-specific surveys
conducted by the RDI in 2019 were reviewed, to understand existing levels of emergency preparedness in local
communities. The local surveys mirrored provincial findings: only 1 in 3 households in British Columbia reported
having a complete, consolidated emergency preparedness kit. A literature review on emergency preparedness
provided a third perspective on common barriers, as well as best practices related to building household emergency
preparedness.

4

COMMUNITY-BASED SOCIAL MARKETING STRATEGIES
About the Strategies
Pilot strategies were developed for three communities within the Columbia Basin-Boundary region— Golden,
Nelson, and Rossland. One strategy was budget-intensive, one was capacity-intensive, and one was informationintensive. The variation between strategies demonstrates that emergency preparedness programs can be
implemented in all communities, regardless of resources, capacity, or time.
The strategies have been categorized in relation to one another based on four indicators—cost, visibility,
involvement and directness (Table 1). Cost refers to the total budget of the strategy. Visibility estimates how
conspicuous the strategy was to the average resident. Involvement refers to the amount of time and effort required
to carry out the pilot strategy and directness refers to the level of frankness used when asking residents to engage in
a particular behavior (active versus passive messaging). Details about the specific strategies are below.
Community

Strategy

Cost

Visibility

Involvement

Directness

Golden

Capacityintensive

Low

Moderate

High

High

Nelson

Informationintensive

Moderate

High

Moderate

Moderate

Rossland

Budgetintensive

High

Low

Low

Low

Table 1: Resource and capacity considerations for each pilot strategy.

The Town of Golden: Capacity-Intensive Social Diffusion
The strategy developed for the Town of Golden aimed to stimulate conversation between neighbours, which is a
form of social diffusion. Social diffusion is frequently integrated into CBSM strategies, and refers to the increased
likelihood of a person adopting a behavior because a trusted
colleague or friend has done so. Social diffusion subtly influences
the choices that people make. For example, when a person is
looking for a new book to read, they will likely seek the
recommendation of a friend rather than a stranger on an internet
forum. This strategy uses the familiarity of neighbors and the
power of suggestion to diffuse emergency preparedness
throughout a pilot community. The objective was to encourage
households to complete an emergency plan, complete with an
out-of-town contact. As shown in Table 1, this strategy required
high involvement and directness from local government partners,
and was carried out at a relatively low cost.
Within the Town of Golden, a pilot neighborhood was selected.
Thirty households were visually divided into ten clusters of three
houses. A canvasser was recruited to knock on the doors of all
middle houses within each cluster of three houses. The canvasser
had a physically-distanced conversation with each middle
household, and provided them with materials that supported the

Figure 1: Static-cling sticker (4” diameter)
designed for Golden's Emergency
Preparedness Pilot Project (2020).
5

pilot strategy. These materials included three fillable household emergency plans, three static-cling stickers (Figure
1), and three information cards (Figure 2; Figure 3). One fillable household emergency plan, information card, and
static-cling sticker was designated for the middle house; the other materials were to be distributed to the neighbors
by the middle household.
Each middle household (ten out of thirty homes) was prompted by the canvasser to complete these steps:


First, complete a household emergency plan. Elements like a rendezvous-spot and out-of-town contacts
must be considered, in case of evacuation.



Second, upon completion of the emergency plan, display the provided static-cling sticker in a window
visible to the street.



Finally, visit the neighbors on both sides, provide the neighbors with a fillable emergency plan and staticcling sticker, encourage them to complete the plan and display the sticker to signify their preparedness.

The information card stipulated that the static-cling sticker was only to be displayed if the household had completed
an emergency plan. Participating households were asked to leave the sticker up until a specified date. The pilot
neighborhood was given four weeks to complete their plans and display their stickers. On the final day of the pilot,
the canvasser visually surveyed the neighborhood, counting visible static-cling stickers; this is how the overall
success of the strategy was quantified. If a household did not have a sticker displayed on the day the neighborhood
was surveyed, it was assumed that the household did not make an emergency plan.

Figure 2: The information card designated for all middle houses.

6

Figure 3: The information card designated for all other houses except for “middle” houses.

Strategy Rationale


Barrier-free, intentional marketing materials
The decision to use static-cling stickers was purposeful. Households may opt out of placing a traditional
adhesive sticker on their window because it could be difficult to remove. Static-cling stickers are easy to
remove, since they adhere to surfaces without adhesive. Effective CBSM strategies anticipate barriers and
act to alleviate or remove them before they become problematic. The static-cling sticker was also designed
to be as visibly appealing as possible.



A trusted community member
For this pilot project, Golden’s emergency management coordinator volunteered to be the canvasser.
Theoretically, the more respected and trusted a canvasser is, the greater potential influence they have on
promoting positive behavior in a community.



Establishing social norms through visibility
By displaying a sticker in a window, a household is making the invisible behavior of emergency
preparedness visible. This can be likened to placing a recycling bin at the curb on collections day. People
are subconsciously aware of their neighbors’ participation, or lack thereof, in curbside recycling. Blue bins
transform the invisible act of at-home recycling into an observable declaration of environmentallyconscious behavior. Similarly, displaying a static-cling sticker after making an emergency plan
communicates to others that a household has taken steps to become more emergency prepared. Both of
these acts establish social norms, effectively setting a precedent for what the “status-quo” behavior is. As
households in the pilot community display their static-cling stickers, social pressure will mount, motivating
ambivalent households to engage in the positive behavior of emergency preparedness.



Using consistency as a stepping stone
People like to be consistent in their actions; the pilot uses this knowledge as a springboard. Studies show
that folks who engaged in a small, positive behavior just once were significantly more likely to engage in
larger and more impactful related behaviors when prompted up to one year after the initial behavior. This
strategy is straightforward with few barriers—the emergency plan is delivered to people’s doorsteps and
takes very little time to complete; the sticker is non-adhesive, attractive, and inconspicuous. The act of
7

making an emergency plan is undoubtedly valuable, but it more importantly paves the way for the
adoption of additional impactful preparedness behaviors later on.


Accountability for all
There is a healthy dose of accountability in this strategy. Most people agree that emergency preparedness
is important, but fail to prioritize it. In this strategy, it becomes the ethical duty of the middle houses to
evoke emergency preparedness in their neighbors, and in order to do so, they must first participate in
emergency preparedness themselves. Theoretically, nobody gets off the hook in this strategy—all parties
involved feel morally obliged to partake in emergency preparedness knowing that they play an important
role in community resilience.

Results and Recommendations
The pilot neighborhood was canvassed on a Saturday morning by Golden’s emergency management coordinator.
The canvasser was met with mild skepticism at first, since the strategy required door-knocking during a global
pandemic. The canvasser adhered to physical distancing protocols, knocking on the door, placing the marketing
materials on the doorstep, stepping back and having a conversation from an appropriate distance. The canvasser
reported that after explaining their role within the Town of Golden, people warmed and became more receptive to
the pilot project.
Out of the neighborhood of thirty homes, ten doors were knocked on. The canvasser had a physically distanced
conversation with seven of the ten homes, with no response from the remaining three homes. All seven homes took
the materials in; the remaining three households had the materials dropped on their doorsteps. The canvasser
personally knew two of the seven households. None of the households agreed on the spot to commit to the pilot
project, nor did any of the households refuse the materials.
Returning nearly four weeks later, the canvasser observed just three households displaying stickers, out of the thirty
total houses, equating to a 10% success rate. All of the “successful” houses were middle houses, and all were houses
that shared an in-person conversation with Golden’s emergency management coordinator during the initial phase of
the project. Zero neighbors participated in the project, and it is unknown if the middle households had a
conversation with their neighbors informing them of the pilot project, or if the emergency preparedness materials
were distributed to the neighbors by the middle houses. The canvasser personally knew two of the three middle
households that displayed their stickers. Overall, the canvasser was very surprised by the lack of engagement on
behalf of the community.
It is difficult to draw conclusions from such a small sample size. However, the canvasser’s role within the local
government, and their familiarity within the community, appeared to be major factors in encouraging the adoption
of emergency preparedness behavior. It is also possible that more than the three counted households completed a
household emergency plan, but did not display a sticker. Finally, the impacts that COVID-19 had on this strategy are
unknown, although physical distancing may have discouraged the neighborly discourse vital to the efficacy of this
strategy.
For local governments interested in adopting a similar strategy into their community, consider the following:


Explore various canvassing methods in numerous neighborhoods; weigh against one another to determine
which are the most effective. Although the emergency management coordinator’s position and status
presumably encouraged households to complete their plans and display their stickers, it is worth testing
how essential an influential member of the community is to the strategy’s success. With a better
understanding of this, local governments may consider outsourcing canvassing to volunteers and/or
summer students.



Consider revisiting the same middle households on the final day of the pilot, while counting stickers. It
could be worthwhile to ask residents for their thoughts on the project, reasons for participation (or lack
thereof), and suggestions for improvement. Approach people with a friendly, respectful demeanor so that
they do not feel judged for their participation, and feel comfortable providing honest feedback.

8



Health, wellbeing, and safety were top priorities in summer 2020 as Canadians navigated the pandemic. At
this point, it is too challenging to untangle the lack of participation in the pilot project from pandemicrelated safety measures. Consider retesting this strategy in a post-pandemic world.



To hold people more accountable, consider gaining permission from the middle houses to send a follow-up
text message three weeks after the canvasser’s initial visit. This could be done using an automated text
messaging service.



Consider testing thirty houses with this exact method, as well as thirty houses with 100% in-person
conversations with a canvasser, and thirty houses with zero in-person conversations. Test against one
another to determine how much capacity is required to push this strategy forward.

Regardless of outcome, this strategy and the face-to-face conversations engendered important discussions about
emergency management and flood preparedness specific to the Town of Golden. Even unsuccessful emergency
preparedness efforts are beneficial to boosting community resilience.

The City of Nelson: Information-Intensive Campaign with a Pledge
In collaboration with Nelson Emergency Management, a comprehensive emergency preparedness campaign was
launched for the month of August. Disaster preparedness is more likely to be at the forefront of residents’ thoughts
as wildfires dot the province and dominate the news headlines towards the end of summer. Thanks to Nelson’s
Emergency Management Department’s contributions of time, support, and resources, a comprehensive strategy
was implemented within the community. This campaign was moderate in its directness, cost and involvement, and
high in visibility (Table 1). The primary objective of the campaign was to elevate Nelson’s general level of household
emergency preparedness and disaster awareness through a blitz-style campaign. No singular CBSM strategy was
piloted or tested, but CBSM techniques were integrated into the campaign frequently.
In terms of vulnerability to wildfire, Nelson ranks as the #1 most endangered community of >10,000 people in BC.
FireSmart, fuel reduction and emergency preparedness can significantly reduce the likelihood of devastating
wildfires, and can concurrently boost community resilience. Nelson’s fire chief recommends that all residents are
actively involved in the processes of prevention and preparedness, and are aware of the risks associated with living
in a forested community. For this reason, the strategy was marketed as the “Community Preparedness Pledge”,
which shares the responsibility and accountability of emergency preparedness with Nelson residents. Commitments
made publicly, such as pledges, are significantly more likely to be upheld; this was considered when Facebook was
chosen as the platform for the Community Preparedness Pledge.
Committing to consistent vernacular was a priority in Nelson’s emergency preparedness campaign. Emergency
preparedness kits have myriad names (72-hour kits, grab-and-go-bags, bug-out-bags, G.O.O.D bags), but similar
functions. Knowing that confusion and overwhelm were identified as barriers to emergency preparedness in British
Columbia’s 2017 Personal Preparedness Survey Report, the term “emergency preparedness kit” was chosen to be
used exclusively. The take-home message from the campaign was to “know the risks, make a plan, and build a kit”.

Elements of Nelson’s Community Preparedness Pledge Campaign


Local business collaboration
Select local businesses on Nelson’s main street (Baker Street), set up in-store displays compiling emergency
preparedness-related items that they retailed. Four businesses participated. These shops were given an
eye-catching poster (Figure 4) to identify that they were part of a local resilience-boosting initiative. Nelson
Fire & Rescue’s Facebook Page promoted the participation of these businesses to their following of 1,400
people, with the hopes of directing emergency preparedness-related sales to local stores.



Plentiful emergency preparedness resources
Three hundred copies of emergency preparedness resources were distributed between the four
participating businesses. These included household preparedness guides, apartment/ condo preparedness
guides, preparedness guides for people living with disabilities, and FireSmart home manuals. These
resources were free to the public, and their quantities were counted before and after the pilot.
9



Social media promotion
Nelson Fire & Rescue’s large Facebook following contributed to the success of this project. A preparedness
pledge (Figure 5) was made shareable on Nelson Fire & Rescue’s Facebook page, and was boosted for $25,
to reach a broader audience. The social media pledge was incentivized to help encourage participation. The
act of sharing the Facebook post indicated that the person was pledging to complete an emergency plan
with their household in the month of August. Each person who pledged via Facebook was entered into a
raffle to win an emergency preparedness kit with a value of $125. Shareable posts are a fantastic way to
create social diffusion, with each consequent share expanding the reach of the post. A pledge, whether
done on social media or with pen and paper, is a great opportunity for people to publicly commit to
positive behavioral changes. A Facebook Poll was also carried out to identify barriers, misconceptions and
attitudes that Nelson residents had towards emergency preparedness (Figure 6). This was not used as a
metric of success, but as an opportunity to better serve the Nelson community in future emergency
preparedness related endeavors.

Results and Recommendations
Nelson’s strategy had multiple elements, and as a result, the overall success of the campaign was challenging to
measure. Nelson Fire & Rescue’s main objective was to build general awareness surrounding the importance of
household emergency preparedness, recognizing that engaging residents in emergency preparedness is a process
that requires ongoing commitment. Below are the components of the Nelson Community Preparedness Pledge that
were measured.


Shareable Facebook pledge
The Facebook Community Pledge for Preparedness was shared by twenty-two Nelson residents between
August 7th and August 16th, 2020. The boosted post reached 1535 people in Nelson, appearing on 680
Mobile App News Feeds and 473 Desktop Right Columns, amongst other places. Overall, this was a quick,
easy and inexpensive way to encourage residents to make emergency plans for their households while
upholding the visibility of the campaign. Unfortunately, only eleven of the residents who shared the post
did so publicly; the other half shared privately. This was a major learning: when sharing a post, Facebook
defaults to the settings used by a person the last time they shared a post. Local governments considering
using shareable Facebook pledges as a part of their emergency preparedness campaigns must explicitly
state that the post must be shared publicly to be entered into the raffle. This will ensure that social
diffusion is not hindered and continues to increase the influence of the campaign.



Facebook poll responses
In 2017, Facebook introduced “stories”, which are temporary posts that are visible for 24 hours. Facebook
stories disappear after this time, unless archived by the user. Facebook stories are a great place for polling,
due to their ephemeral and urgent nature. The poll used in this strategy was presented as a judgment-free
opportunity for Nelson Emergency Management to better understand residents’ relationships to
emergency preparedness. Twenty Facebook accounts viewed the stories, but very few responded to the
questions and polls. Of three respondents, two people indicated that building an emergency preparedness
kit was too time-consuming; one participant admitted that they were unaware of emergency preparedness
kits. Of five respondents on another story, four indicated that they genuinely believed emergency
preparedness was important, while one believed the opposite to be true. Of four respondents, two
reported that they were proactive when it came to emergency preparedness measures, while two
admitted that there was room for improvement.



Emergency preparedness resource count
Supplemental resources, such as household preparedness guides and FireSmart brochures, were
distributed to each participating local business. Locals could take these resources home, free of charge.
During the month of August, one business distributed thirty-four household preparedness guides and nine
preparedness guides for people living with disabilities. Another business reported that twenty copies of the
household preparedness guide had been picked up by shoppers.

10

Figure 4: The official Community Preparedness Pledge poster, displayed in
participating local businesses on Baker Street.

Figure 5: Social media pledge used to enhance Nelson’s
Community Preparedness Pledge campaign.
11

Local businesses were quick to rise to the occasion and join Nelson’s Community
Preparedness Pledge campaign. However, all stores reported that their shipments
were unreliable and delayed as a result of the pandemic. One store special-ordered
emergency preparedness related items into stock, in an effort to become a partner
in community safety. Another local business was working with I.T. staff to explore
adding a locally-sourced emergency preparedness kit to their popular online store.
An online offering like this is an excellent way to merge local business stimulation
with convenience. As affirmed by Nelson Fire & Rescue’s Facebook poll, building an
emergency preparedness kit is seen as time-consuming. More convenient options
for locals would, in theory, result in more prepared households.
To close the campaign, participating businesses were contacted at the end of
August. One business, a cornerstone hardware store in the community, expressed
that they would happily participate in a community resilience campaign annually.
Due to delayed shipments, a consequence of COVID-19, the hardware store was not
able to assemble their display until midway through August. The manager of this
store reported that many people were asking about the campaign poster displayed
at the front of the store, and as a result of their display, were having more
conversations about household emergency preparedness with customers. The
manager also mentioned that he sees a surge in emergency preparedness-related
sales during catastrophic fire years. He also reported that when wildfires are
proximate to Nelson, people come into the hardware store looking for methods to
structurally protect their homes. This suggests that a collaboration between local
hardware stores and FireSmart could prove synergetic.

Figure 6: Nelson Fire Rescue's
Facebook story polls, used to
gauge attitudes towards
emergency preparedness.

A local drugstore placed their emergency preparedness display on an end-shelf
display, directly in front of where the pharmacy queues. The display included supporting resources, the campaign
poster, pet food, water, batteries, emergency chargers, canned goods, and more. The manager of the store
reported that they would be happy to participate again, and that at the very least, the campaign engendered
household preparedness actions by herself and the drugstore’s staff.
For local governments interested in adopting a similar strategy into their community, consider the following:


Design and print out small, aesthetically pleasing bag inserts, and distribute them to local businesses that
retail emergency preparedness items. These bag inserts, roughly the size of a bookmark, are an
opportunity to direct residents to important local emergency planning resources. For example, many
Columbia Basin communities have emergency notification systems that inform residents via text, phone
and email about impending hazards like fires, floods and storms.



Wording matters. Consider testing the effectiveness of different pledge phrases to determine what
resonates with your intended audience. Which is more effective?
“To protect my loved ones, I pledge to ______” OR “I pledge to _____”?
“I pledge to _____” OR “I pledge to _____ by the end of August 2020”?
More about this study here.



Consider in-person, public commitments in hardware stores and other participating local businesses, to
appeal to a less technologically inclined demographic.

The strength of this campaign was its omnipresence— it was supported by an update to the Emergency
Preparedness section on the City’s website, it was promoted by a strong social media presence, and it was boosted
by visibility and signage in local businesses. Nelson residents were prompted constantly to engage in emergency
preparedness. This campaign was a major collaboration between local businesses, emergency management, and the
RDI. The City of Nelson demonstrates a clear commitment to emergency preparedness, risk awareness, and disaster
mitigation. Overall, Nelson’s Community Preparedness Pledge laid a great foundation in the City for future
emergency preparedness projects.
12

The City of Rossland: Incentivized, Hands-Off Approach
The pilot project developed for the City of Rossland was largely hands-off, testing the efficacy of a strategy that
required very little local government involvement. It was essential to test a remotely-delivered strategy, since local
governments often have very little capacity to dedicate to emergency preparedness. The general objective was to
encourage Rossland residents to build emergency preparedness kits. This strategy was low in directness, visibility
and involvement, and high in cost (Table 1).
Hand addressed envelopes, which are more likely to be opened than other mail, were sent to thirty randomly
selected addresses in Rossland. These mail-outs informed residents that they were eligible to redeem a $30 gift
card to the local grocery store, should they build an emergency preparedness kit by a certain date (Figure 7). A
simple checklist for building an emergency preparedness kit (Figure 8) was included in the envelope. To prove
participation, recipients were asked to send a photo of their household with their newly assembled emergency
preparedness kit to an email address created specifically for this pilot project. The incentives were transparently
marketed as “first come, first served, while quantities last”, as the total budget available was limited, and more
households were engaged than the budget allowed, under the assumption that not everyone would participate.
Similar to the approach created for Golden, this strategy thinks big-picture. First, a small group of a population
would be incentivized to participate in the positive action of building an emergency preparedness kit. The gift card
incentives result in submission of photographs of local residents engaging in a proactive and safety-conscious
behavior in small-town Rossland. Once the incentivized period ends, these photographs could be used (with
consent) to create a display in a visible community location such as the grocery store or post office. The compilation
of photos of local families with an emergency preparedness kit establishes a social norm, ideally motivating other
families to get prepared. Social norms create friendly levels of pressure that are proven to be effective at motivating
members of the community to make positive decisions.

Figure 7: Original mail-out that was sent to thirty randomly selected Rossland households.

13

Figure 8: Mail-out emergency preparedness kit checklist designed, to help guide Rossland residents
assembling kits.

14

Evaluating and Revising
The pilot strategy developed for Rossland, which offered a $30 grocery store gift card to households who built an
emergency preparedness kit in a particular time frame, was unsuccessful. The pilot ran for three weeks. No
submissions were received. The project team believes the following factors contributed to this strategy’s lack of
success:








Comprehensive barrier and benefit research was not carried out due to COVID-19 limitations. CBSM
projects are much more likely to be successful if major obstacles and inconveniences specific to a
community are identified and used to inform development of strategies.
The time frame of three weeks may have been too short. Building an emergency preparedness kit can be
time consuming and costly, making it more practical to acquire contents over time.
Renters and those who live independently are less likely to take emergency preparedness measures than
homeowners, according to Statistics Canada’s 2014 report. Addresses were randomly selected without
considering homeowner status. There is roughly one rental property to every four owned dwellings in
Rossland, according to the City’s 2016 census.
The incentive may have been too small for people to see as worthwhile.
Although the envelopes mailed to households were on Selkirk College branded stationary, and the
contents contained the City of Rossland and the RDI’s logos, it may have bred skepticism. Some people
may have felt uncertain about sending a photo to an unfamiliar email address, or thought the pilot project
was a scam.

Failures can be expected when trying something new. An adapted strategy was implemented within the limited
time remaining in the pilot term. This adapted strategy took advantage of the City of Rossland’s semi-regular email
newsletter that they send to a list of 378 people. With the help of the City, this e-newsletter platform was used to
distribute the same incentivized encouragement that was previously offered to a limited number of households.
This newsletter is available here. However, the revision asked people to submit photos of their newly assembled
kits, rather than photos of their households with their kits, to test if the initial request was a limiting factor. Email
recipients were able to access an emergency preparedness kit checklist designed specifically for Rossland.
Although this strategy revision utilized email, it could have also been offered to the public via Facebook. A sample
Facebook post that went unused can be viewed in Figure 9.
The strategy revision ran from August 17th until August 28th. During this period, four Rossland residents assembled
emergency preparedness kits. It is challenging to determine if this small success should be attributed to the much
larger reach of the e-newsletter (378 people versus 30), or the fact that the revised version asked for a photo of
the kit, rather than the household alongside the kit.

Figure 9: An example of a graphic that could be used to promote the incentivized campaign on
social media. Information on how to participate in the incentivized strategy would be included.

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While the second attempt to engage residents in building emergency preparedness kits yielded minor results, both
strategies were unsuccessful overall, presumably because both failed to address the barriers that prevent Rossland
residents from taking preparedness measures. Moving forward, a better understanding of the Rossland community
and their unique barriers to preparedness must be established prior to further strategy development. Attempts to
establish a better understanding of the community were made, but were unfortunately hindered due to COVID-19
restrictions. For example, an inquiry was made about setting up a booth in the grocery store entrance, with intent
to chat to locals about their relationships and obstacles pertaining to emergency preparedness. This request was
understandably denied, with the best interest of public health in mind. As demonstrated in The City of Nelson’s
strategy, surveying locals through social media is possible, though challenging. Intercept surveys carried out in a
public space like a grocery store result in a more complete and accurate representation of the community. An
example of an intercept survey can be found in Figure 10. The most prevalent attitudes and beliefs expressed
should be considered and reworked into future strategy revisions.
“Hello, my name is Alex. I work with the Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute at Selkirk College. Can I
ask you a few questions about emergency preparedness? This will take about one minute of your time.”
Shopper replies.
“Are you familiar with household emergency preparedness kits?”
Shopper replies.
“Could you tell me what you perceive to be a challenge or a barrier that prevents you from assembling a
household emergency preparedness kit?”
Shopper replies.
“What do you consider to be a benefit resulting from assembling an emergency preparedness kit?”
Shopper replies.
“Thank you for your participation. Goodbye!”

Figure 10: An outline for intercept surveying.
For local governments interested in adopting a similar strategy into their community, consider the following:




If there is little room in the budget for incentives, consider asking local grocery stores to match
contributions or donate gift cards. For this project, Ferraro Foods offered to donated two $30 gift cards;
their logo was included on the marketing materials in exchange.
Rather than incentivizing randomly chosen households, local governments may consider asking wellrespected community members to build and photograph themselves with their personal emergency
preparedness kits. These community members could include school teachers, local business owners, fire
fighters and front line workers. A prominent display of these photos could be placed in a central
community location. The display should be accompanied by resources that encourage and support
residents in building an emergency preparedness kit. The more familiar and trusted these upstanding
citizens are, the more likely it is that emergency preparedness will diffuse throughout the community with
minimal effort.

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Project Limitations and Lessons
Barrier and Benefit Research
Results from household emergency preparedness surveys conducted by the Province of BC and the RDI provided
some background information on barriers that prevent local residents from becoming emergency prepared.
However, results of the pilot project indicate that more extensive, community-specific research is needed to better
understand the barriers that prevent households from engaging in emergency preparedness.
Future projects may benefit from hosting a focus group to gather in-depth opinions on barriers that are specific to
the context of the project. Casual intercept surveys in local grocery stores could also help achieve this goal. For
example, if the majority of survey respondents indicated that they were keen to become more emergency prepared,
but didn’t know how, the CBSM strategy would be developed in accordance. Inversely, if the intercept surveys
revealed disinterest and lack of knowledge surrounding emergency preparedness, the CBSM strategy would focus
on creating a level of awareness and accountability prior to focusing on larger behavioral shifts.

Timeline
These three CBSM pilot strategies were developed, tested and evaluated between mid-May and the end of August.
Future strategies would benefit from a more expanded timeline, especially during the barrier research phase. Each
of these strategies show promise in building community resilience, but require further refinement and research.

COVID-19 Impacts
COVID-19 greatly restricted options for community outreach, and may have even limited the anticipated diffusion of
emergency preparedness behaviors. It is difficult to say if these strategies would have yielded the same results in a
pre-pandemic world.

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CONCLUSION
These small pilot projects successfully engendered conversations about emergency preparedness in small subsets of
the communities and within their respective local governments. Each success and failure over the course of the
project provided valuable information for future ventures. Even small successes in boosting household emergency
preparedness can be considered significant, as they add to a body of work that is largely underdeveloped. Each
strategy resulted in some level of community engagement, but there was no clear outlier of success or failure. While
this project did not achieve its original goal of developing strategies ready to be adopted by local governments, it
does suggest numerous approaches that are ready to be modified to each community’s specific context.
Rich and diverse communities mean that there is no universal approach to emergency preparedness. In recognizing
that emergency preparedness is an ongoing process, rather than a singular action, the objective will become less
about “achieving” emergency preparedness, and more about building resilience and climate-adaptation within
communities.

Photo: An email submission of an emergency preparedness kit assembled by a Rossland
household. Note the printed checklist designed by the RDI, the fillable Home Emergency
Plan from PreparedBC’s website, and the DIY “HELP/ OK” signs.

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