Projects
Training program
Imagine that …
How do you get people ready to act in a crisis if you only have their attention for a few hours every few years?
A different approach to preparedness
Our learning experiences immerse a micro-community, such as a group of neighbors, in a real-time role-playing crisis simulation. They experience some of the shock, confusion, and chaos of crisis. Without any advance preparation, participants must work together to improvise and adapt solutions to realistic challenges.
Learning to act
Our immersive learning experiences engage people in their everyday settings. Our goal is to foster the confidence they need to act in the face of uncertainty, rely on themselves, and improvise creative solutions with strangers. The experience also motivates participants to act on best practices for preparedness.
Learning by discovery
Experience is the best teacher. Our immersive simulations provide a stimulating setting in which people can discover their own capabilities and make mistakes safely. We incorporate live-action roleplay techniques to make experiences fun, and keep participants emotionally and intellectually engaged.
Learning together
Our immersive learning experiences increase social resilience by engaging everyone in the micro-community with challenges that require both individual and collective action. This experience encourages families to assess their own state of readiness, take responsibility for the well-being of their micro-community, and connect to a larger network of community resources.
Whole community learning
Communities that play together before a crisis stay together in a crisis. We work with community organizations to enable them to deliver our immersive learning experiences in their communities. In this way, community organizations forge new connections, deepen their understanding of local needs, and increase community engagement.
See how it works
Training projects
Project
Wildfire readiness
Our main focus right now is on working with a few local communities to develop a new learning experience to help community members be ready to support each other in the face of a wildfire threat — from possible evacuation through return to partially damaged homes.
LEARN MORE about the Wildfire project →
Project (completed)
Earthquake pilots
Our pilot learning experience invites a group of neighbors to “get through” the weeks following a catastrophic earthquake. They solve challenges in their own homes, and around the neighborhood, with only the people and resources at hand.
LEARN MORE about the project →
Project (completed)
Pandemic earthquake
In the midst of disaster, we continue to prepare for disaster. We have adapted our neighborhood earthquake to happen in the presence of COVID-19, and we conduct the simulation by videoconference. Participants face the same challenges, but the neighborhood is virtual.
READ ABOUT the virtual pilot →
From our blog
Wildfire game success!
With great success (but little fanfare), we unveiled our new wildfire game last week. Thanks to Napa Valley Grapegrowers, we play-tested …
Misunderstandings, Mistakes and Grief
In this message of support for Life After Disaster, we offer a few recommendations for managing misunderstandings, mistakes and grief …
Two Ways to Prepare to be Unprepared
On the second day of Thanks and Giving, we give to you … two surprising and critical ways to prepare for disaster!
What do you think of when …
From our blog
Wildfire game success!
With great success (but little fanfare), we unveiled our new wildfire game last week. Thanks to Napa Valley Grapegrowers, we play-tested …
Misunderstandings, Mistakes and Grief
In this message of support for Life After Disaster, we offer a few recommendations for managing misunderstandings, mistakes and grief …
Two Ways to Prepare to be Unprepared
On the second day of Thanks and Giving, we give to you … two surprising and critical ways to prepare for disaster!
What do you think of when …
Get involved
Partner
Local community training
We are looking for community-based organizations who would like to engage with local communities using our immersive learning approach. Collaborations will benefit communities by strengthening social resilience, and us by providing the evidence we need to improve learning experiences and community support.
Volunteer
Communication Tools Analyst
Help us find a communication tool that will let us manage live training events.
Details
START
As soon as possible
DURATION
1-3 months
DESCRIPTION
We need a simple and easy-to-use communication platform that supports fun and engaging interaction between participants during training events. Can you help us research existing tools used in gaming, simulation and/or communication and determine if they can be adapted to meet our needs?
Volunteer
Evaluation Designer
Work with us to develop ways of measuring progress and impact, and collect and understand the data.
Details
START
ASAP
DURATION
3-6 months
DESCRIPTION
We want to change behavior, so we need to know what effects we are having. We need a creative, and rigorous, thinker to help us define outcome metrics and measures, and develop data collection methods for evaluating what people learn from our events as well as the success of our programs.
“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”
— Benjamin Franklin