Solidarity Sparks
Solidarity Sparks investigates how citizens, volunteers and emergency services can find each other faster and more safely during disasters and crises. When an emergency occurs, many people want to help: filling sandbags, supporting neighbours, transporting materials, translating, cooking, helping with logistics or using their professional expertise. However, today this help is not always easy to find, coordinate or safely integrate into official crisis response.
In the Meuse-Rhine region, crises do not stop at borders. Floods, wildfires, power outages, pandemics or other emergencies can have consequences in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Yet volunteering, emergency planning and crisis procedures are often organised locally, regionally or nationally. Solidarity Sparks investigates how this cross-border cooperation can be improved.
The project develops and tests a new form of crisis volunteering, in which long-term volunteers work together with citizens who want to help temporarily. An important part of the project is a digital talent-matching tool. During a crisis, this tool should connect concrete needs to available citizens or volunteers with the right skills nearby. In addition, the project investigates how telecoaching can support volunteers in the field through remote guidance.
The aim is not to replace emergency services, but to support them better, reduce pressure on professional services and make society more resilient during crises.
PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts is the lead partner of Solidarity Sparks. The project is coordinated by PXL-Research – Centre for Civic Safety and Resilience and carried out with partners from Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. The results will be translated into practical tools, training, procedures, policy recommendations and pilot experiences for municipalities, emergency services, crisis organisations and volunteer networks.
Solidarity Sparks is carried out within the Interreg Meuse-Rhine programme and is co-financed by the European Union.
More information:
Hanne Westhovens
Project coordinator Solidarity Sparks
PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts / PXL-Research
