Leveraging collective awareness against heatwaves- Italy

Meso

Main result 

Prevention campaign

Title

Leveraging collective awareness against heatwaves

Date 2022

Objectives

“Cresce il caldo cresce la prevenzione” informative campaign led by the Italian Red Cross is aimed “to walk the talk” in relation to the fight against climate change. Specifically, this initiative wants to inform the public on the preventive actions to be taken to safeguard one’s health from the repercussions of heatwaves.

Location  /geographical coverage           

Italy

Organisation  responsible  for good  practice     

“Cresce il caldo, cresce la prevenzione” (in English “The heat increases, so does

prevention”) is a prevention campaign that has traditionally been promoted by the Italian Red Cross and implemented through its local divisions. Yet, in 2022

Legambiente, an Italian no-profit association focused on the protection of the

environment, signed a collaboration protocol with the Italian Red Cross, therefore it has co-organised the initiative, with the aim to promote environmental and social justice together.

Stakeholders and partners

The Red Cross has intended to target not only vulnerable people but, more broadly, the general public through this campaign.

Short  summary 

“Cresce il caldo, cresce la prevenzione” (Heat increases, so does prevention) is an informative and awareness raising campaign promoted in Italy in the framework of the initiative “#BeatTheHeat” launched by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

As a result of the collaboration agreement between the Italian Red Cross and

Legambiente, the campaign has broadened its scope, maintaining the original aim to increase prevention against heat-related effects on health yet combining it to other macrotopics, such as the fight to climate change, health and environment protection, and social and environmental justice. The campaign aims to raise awareness on such topics among all citizens, regardless of their age.

As concerns prevention enhancement, the Italian Red Cross has activated a public information line, 1520, active 24/7, to provide citizens, volunteers, committees and anyone who might need help with information, support and assistance. The operator available undertakes the request and suggests best practices to protect oneself from high temperatures, in order to better integrate the services provided within the territory and improve access to them.

As part of the prevention campaign, the Italian Red Cross has created and

disseminated informative graphic materials, that are also available online. For

example, they have designed postcards with specific tips, such as “use light clothing” or “go out during cooler hours”, and a related symbolic image, besides reporting the public information line.

Yet, the campaign is not restricted to the dissemination of informative materials, but to the organisation of public gatherings as well. This is the case of #BeatTheHeat flash mobs. In the framework of the IFRC, groups of volunteers of the Italian Red Cross have gathered in public spaces, cities or squares to raise awareness on the best practices against heatwaves through music, dances, acting and other activities. In this case, the possibility to take action through the organisation of flash mobs is not limited to volunteers of the Red Cross, but anyone willing to do it is welcome to, even by gathering friends or family, and tailoring dance moves, acting and music to their country. They should then film the flash mob and share it on social media with the dedicated hashtag and tagging the Federation.

Impact 

The geographical reach of the good practice is exemplary of the impact that it has had, by touching different parts of the country, not only big urban centres, but also minor cities and towns. Moreover, the Red Cross has kept activating the campaign each year since at least 2010, meaning that it has been consolidated and enriched over the time, for instance with the addition of new topics and collaborations, as happened in 2022. Unfortunately, at the moment there are no impact assessment studies available, to estimate the number of people engaged and reached through flash mobs.

Innovation

The main innovation that characterises this good practice is the use of flash mobs as a tool to create collective awareness by conveying the message (i.e., preventive measures against heat-related effects on health), through artistic practices, like dancing, singing, making music, acting, etc. Since such gatherings occur in public and normally crowded places, everyone can freely join the flash mob, having fun, learn and become means themselves to spread the message.

Lessons learned

The main message to take home lies undoubtedly on the possibility to engage people differently than it often happens through highly institutionalised and complex plans designed by ministerial or local bodies. For instance, the idea of postcards with immediate and concise messages help catch the attention of the youngest, which are becoming increasingly more used to and attracted from graphic materials, and for older people as well. Furthermore, the idea of flash mob is also a successful one, because it is based on collective awareness and the use of artistic practices that help participants not to be just passive receiver of the message, but to actively engage in creating and conveying it through their body language, voice, etc.

Sustainability    

The practice responds in an efficient and effective way to some actual needs in our society, that is becoming aware of heat-related negative effects on health, getting acquainted to some good practices to avoid them and, finally, applying these latter. This campaign is visibly socially sustainable, since it promotes collective awareness, engagement and community building. The easy and volunteer-based organisation of the initiative makes this practice economically sustainable as well. Finally, printing only the necessary quantity of informative materials and promoting the gathering of people living already in the same city or enhancing the use of cleaner means of transport to join them can certainly help decrease the environmental footprint of the initiative, given that it is also to be interpreted in light of the fight against climate change.

 Replicability  and/or  up-scaling

The good practice is in part already performed in other countries, outside the

European Union as well, since it was first launched by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. In the Federation’s website, there are videos of flash mobs that took place in New York, Belgium, Bangladesh, Ecuador and Kenya. In any case, the good practice can be easily replicated everywhere, given the presence of 192 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies worldwide and the voluntary-based nature of flash mobs.

Contact  details

1520 – dedicated public Information line (active 24/7)

Related Web site(s)

https://www.ifrc.org/get-involved/campaign-us/heat-action-day

https://cri.it/ondatecalore/

https://cittaclima.it/ondatedicalore/