I have written several posts about ways citizens could be involved the Gulf Oil Spill cleanup. In an article on PRNewsOnline.com, David All, recommends drawing upon the popularity of games on social networking sites to recruit volunteers:
“…imagine a game — call it “Coastal Cleanup” — that connects people online for a good cause in their local communities offline. Volunteers could “check in” at locations via Foursquare and unlock badges for their volunteer efforts. Or they could earn patches of the ocean as rewards — similar to the (Lil) Green Patch game on Facebook that empowers users to fight global warming.
That’s just the kind of strategy companies and organizations need to be pursuing to win public relations battles in this social-networking era. By now it is clear that people spend a lot of time online, much of it on social-networking sites. And gaming is one of their favorite online activities.
FarmVille, which engaged its community to raise money for Haiti earthquake relief, leads the pack, but other social-gaming venues are rapidly becoming popular. For instance, more than 500,000 users “check in” regularly to earn badges, mayorships and more on Foursquare, which is only a year old, and reportedly growing by 15,000 users each day.”
I wanted to bring your attention to a new Facebook page started by a Citizen Corps volunteer primarily for other Citizen Corps volunteers (and anyone interested in the topic of public preparedness).
The Citizen Corps Volunteer page was created by Andrew Levy, a friend of this blog, who authors his own Neighbors Helping Neighbors blog. The page is active and growing and is a good resource for Citizen Corps members. It gives them an opportunity to share experiences, events and best practices, get their questions answered by peers, and help tie together the volunteers working in communities spread throughout the U.S.
As I write this Friday morning, there is some hope that a containment cap has been placed over the well pipe to stop the gushing oil. But I wanted to post an interesting article in the BBC News, “Can Ordinary People Think Of A Way To Stop The Oil,” because it covers both the BP solicitation process as well as some historical of citizen-generated problem solving:
By 2 June, BP had received 31,600 suggestions from members of the public on how to plug the well, or deal with the oil slicks already in the sea. The company’s helpline, which has 80 telephone operators, deals with interested citizens. Of the 31,600 ideas, 8,000 have been submitted on paper.
BP then puts the plans through a four-stage process. The first is a primary evaluation to weed out ideas that have already been considered or are just not possible. The second stage is classification into categories such as “dispersants” or “mechanical”. The third stage is a more detailed technical review and the fourth stage is field testing. There are 235 ideas currently in stage three and four, says BP. Of those, just 10% are about how to plug the well.
Some might ridicule the idea that interested amateurs might be able to solve a problem that is foxing a giant company with immense resources at its fingertips. But the notion has a long pedigree. One of the most famous examples of attempting to tap the public brain came in the Longitude Prize, established in the UK by Parliament in 1714. For a seafaring nation, the ability to accurately measure longitude was a massive challenge.
The act of Parliament offered £20,000 to the person who could do it, and the clockmaker John Harrison established the principles for the marine chronometers that revolutionised navigation. Another prize was offered in late 18th Century France for the creation of soda crystals from sea salt. Harrison was met with scepticism and never received the full prize, while the French winner Nicholas Leblanc was denied his cash because of the revolution.
One reason, experts say, why there haven’t been any successful citizen ideas yet on the oil spill is a lack of information:
In his end of the show commentary on MSNBC’s “Hardball” Thursday night, Chris Matthews asked President Obama to: “put out an offer to the people of America – not just to the youth, but to anyone who can participate. Create a modern Civilian Conservation Corps, and deploy it in all the states of the Gulf. Invite any American who wants to join to come down south this summer and to clean up the beaches and wetlands of the Gulf.”
I don’t know the feasibility of putting together such a program. But I think the general idea — and particularly the underlying spirit behind it — is terrific. The text of Matthews’ commentary is below:
I think what’s been misunderstood in this entire fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico is the spiritual factor. People in our country are heartsick over this. They sit and watch our natural birthright, this “gift outright” that Robert Frost called North America, being disfigured.
And there’s nothing that they can do. There’s nothing that their kids or parents or anyone that they know can do. It’s as if we’re all a bunch of by-standers, watching part of our country get destroyed.
I have a small recommendation that could fill a big part of our national heart. Put out an offer to the people of America – not just to the youth, but to anyone who can participate. Create a modern Civilian Conservation Corps, and deploy it in all the states of the Gulf. Invite any American who wants to join to come down south this summer and to clean up the beaches and wetlands of the Gulf.
I know that there will be those who warn you of the hazards in this, of the possibility of people getting hurt. Let people sign releases if it’s necessary – but give Americans the chance to do something.
Matthews said the idea was not his but came in a letter from Edward J. Shanahan, the headmaster of a New England prep school with at least one famous alumnus:
President Obama released his “National Security Strategy” last week, which, according to the White House website “lays out a strategic approach for advancing American interests, including the security of the American people, a growing U.S. economy, support for our values, and an international order that can address 21st century challenges.”
From a citizen engagement/preparedness perspective, the Strategy document offers some encouraging objectives. However, there are few specifics on what and how the Administration plans to attain them, particularly in the area of informing and engaging the general public on terrorism.
In some ways, the public is central to overall document. A major theme of the Strategy is that the stronger the nation when it comes to our economy, educational system, ability to innovate, and civic values the stronger and more secure we will be. But on the more specific topics of citizen involvement in homeland security, there are several points in the section, “Strengthen Security and Resilience at Home”:
Empowering Communities to Counter Radicalization: Several recent incidences of violent extremists in the United States who are committed to fighting here and abroad have underscored the threat to the United States and our interests posed by individuals radicalized at home. Our best defenses against this threat are well informed and equipped families, local communities, and institutions. The Federal Government will invest in intelligence to understand this threat and expand community engagement and development programs to empower local communities. And the Federal Government, drawing on the expertise and resources from all relevant agencies, will clearly communicate our policies and intentions, listening to local concerns, tailoring policies to address regional concerns, and making clear that our diversity is part of our strength—not a source of division or insecurity.
This type of targeted public outreach has been going on to some extent particularly in areas with significant Muslim populations including here in New York City.
Improve Resilience Through Increased Public-Private Partnerships: When incidents occur, we must show resilience by maintaining critical operations and functions, returning to our normal life, and learning from disasters so that their lessons can be translated into pragmatic changes when necessary. The private sector, which owns and operates most of the nation’s critical infrastructure, plays a vital role in preparing for and recovering from disasters. We must, therefore, strengthen public-private partnerships by developing incentives for government and the private sector to design structures and systems that can withstand disruptions and mitigate associated consequences, ensure redundant systems where necessary to maintain the ability to operate, decentralize critical operations to reduce our vulnerability to single points of disruption, develop and test continuity plans to ensure the ability to restore critical capabilities, and invest in improvements and maintenance of existing infrastructure.
“I applaud President Obama’s inclusion of resilience in the new National Security Strategy. This marks an important step forward by acknowledging the vital role that citizens, companies, and communities can and must play in dealing with the evolving terrorism threat highlighted by the recent Times Square attack and the ongoing risk of natural disasters. I sincerely hope this new strategy inspires a revitalized national effort to better integrate the role of everyday Americans and the private sector into security and preparedness planning.â€
A third part of that section relates to all members of the public:
Engage with Communities and Citizens: We will emphasize individual and community preparedness and resilience through frequent engagement that provides clear and reliable risk and emergency information to the public. A key part of this effort is providing practical steps that all Americans can take to protect themselves, their families, and their neighbors. This includes transmitting information through multiple pathways and to those with special needs. In addition, we support efforts to develop a nationwide public safety broadband network. Our efforts to inform and empower Americans and their communities recognize that resilience has always been at the heart of the American spirit.
As I have written previously, the Administration has definitely said the right things and has made initial efforts to communicate and reach out to the public. The challenge will be to concretely determine what “resilience” means for the average citizen and to make good on the promise of “frequent engagement” to provide “clear and reliable risk and emergency information to the public.”
The Obama Administration’s “National Security Strategy” document released last week.
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One in three have no family disaster plan, the Mason-Dixon Polling and Research survey found on the eve of the summer hurricane season, which the government predicted Thursday could produce up to seven major hurricanes.
Even in Florida, where 44 percent of residents live in an evacuation zone, one in six respondents said they would refuse to evacuate if ordered.
The survey finds gaps in many areas, according to the article:
In 2004 and 2005, Florida went through one of the most hellacious two-year stretches on record. Four hurricanes slammed the state in 2004; and the following year, a record number of storms formed, with Katrina and Wilma smashing South Florida.
You’d think people got the message. But five hurricane-free years later, and with a new season starting today, a new study concludes that too many Floridians are woefully under-prepared, under-educated, and under-motivated.
And worse, they don’t know it. ”Too few people in the most dangerous areas realize they’re at risk, and too many people in relatively safe locations think they’re at greater risk than they are,” Florida State University geography professor Jay Baker, a veteran of such studies, said last week.
Baker’s study, commissioned by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, found that nearly two-thirds of residents in zones that would be evacuated in a major storm – of at least Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale – don’t believe they’d be at risk from both wind and water, or didn’t know.
And nearly as many inland residents believed their homes also would be unsafe, which leads to unwarranted evacuees clogging roads.
Survey figures are down from 2006, when 44 percent said they were better prepared for a disaster than they had been in the 2004-2005 storm seasons. In 2010, only 38 percent said they were better prepared than in 2000-2005.
READYColorado and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security are accepting applications for a unique disaster preparedness skills training program designed for middle and high school students this summer. According to the state’s Department of Local Affairs Division of Emergency Management website:
Disaster READY Training provides students with an opportunity to learn and practice emergency readiness skills. The program is being delivered in a format that teaches a broad-range of safety skills with time devoted to practicing the newly acquired training in hands-on exercises and activities. In addition, the program gives students a chance to explore careers in emergency management, response, and preparedness from professionals working in a variety of areas and disciplines.
The middle school program is being offered on June 29, 2010 at Quest K-8 in Aurora, CO and the four day high school program is July 20 – 23, at the Denver Police Academy. Application materials are available at www.readycolorado.com/disasterREADYtraining. Space is limited and applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration is free and open to all middle and high school students throughout Colorado.
The far-reaching Gulf oil spill tragedy has left many people feeling powerless to help out. But beyond the official Deep Horizon response, pockets of non-profits and people are starting to use social media tools to organize grassroots activities throughout the Gulf region. Here’s a quick look at four tools and efforts geared towards delivering aid and cleaning up crude oil in local coastal areas.
The four are: 1. Oil Reporter Apps, 2. Greater New Orleans Foundation Helps Local Fisherman, 3. National Wildlife Federation Organizing Local Teams, & 4. “Adopt a Beach†with Crisis Commons. The full article can be found here.
The Oil Reporter app being used by citizens to report on the Gulf Oil Spill.
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