Risk Factory Twente is an interactive safety education centre where children (especially primary school pupils) and vulnerable seniors experience realistic “everyday risk” scenarios and learn how to act safely in emergencies.
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Risk Factory Twente
General Information
ISIG
An immersive safety education “experience village” that trains children and seniors to recognise risks and take safer decisions in real-life situations.
The Risk Factory is set up as a realistic mini-village inside a converted hangar, where visitors go through interactive scenarios (e.g., preventing household fire risks, internet safety/cyberbullying, traffic safety, peer pressure/alcohol effects, and how to call the emergency number 112). Learning is reinforced through a follow-up serious game (“Game of Heroes”), helping students transfer lessons into daily life and become “safety ambassadors.”
The solution was created to address a practical gap in community safety: children and seniors often face risks at home, online, and in public spaces, but traditional classroom teaching can’t replicate high-impact, realistic situations. Risk Factory Twente therefore uses experiential learning: safe simulations supported by emergency services and education partners, to strengthen risk perception and practical decision-making.
Geographical Scope - Nuts
Population Size
Population Density
Needs Addressed
Risk Factory Twente tackles a common gap in public safety education: people (especially children and seniors) know “rules,” but struggle to recognise risk and act correctly under pressure. By placing visitors in realistic, guided scenarios, the initiative strengthens practical decision-making and self-reliance - skills that matter in everyday incidents and larger emergencies.
The programme is multi-topic, spanning physical safety, digital safety, and emergency action. It explicitly includes:
- Fire prevention / home fire hazards
- Cyber safety / cyberbullying (online risks)
- Traffic safety / blind spots / road safety
- Emergency calling and response (112)
- For seniors: scams, fall-risk awareness, and fire safety
Risk Factory Twente explicitly targets:
- children (primary school, and also secondary school cohorts)
- elderly / seniors (program adapted for independent-living seniors)
It also describes outreach to special needs school boards to extend reach, which supports including disability-related needs where your platform requires an option.
Risk Factory Twente is implemented through a multi-stakeholder governance model: a public safety/DRRM ecosystem (fire brigade, police, health and crisis response actors, safety region) works together with education and safety partners to design, deliver, and continuously optimise the scenarios.
This case is embedded in a mature Dutch safety-region context with structured partner involvement and a dedicated safety campus. As such, the overall emergency management setting is advanced in preparedness.
Implementing this case requires developed infrastructure: a dedicated physical facility configured as an immersive “village,” modern technology to run scenarios, trained practitioners, and coordination capacity with safety partners.
To enable children and seniors to learn through realistic, guided experience—so they recognise risks earlier, choose safer actions, and feel more confident about what to do in an emergency.
Facilitated scenario-based learning in a realistic “experience village” setting, supported by interactive exercises and a serious-game follow-up to reinforce and repeat key behaviours.
Decision-making about programme design, scenario selection, and operational delivery sits with the Risk Factory organisation and its safety/education partners. Visitors (students/seniors) participate actively in learning, but they are not co-decision makers in how the programme is governed or configured.
The case builds long-term community capacity by creating repeatable learning experiences that can be embedded into school programmes and senior safety outreach. The “ambassador” approach and the serious game element support sustained behaviour change by encouraging repetition and discussion beyond the visit itself.
Vulnerable Groups
Governance
Emergency Preparedness
Infrastructure Readiness
Engagement Level
Empowerment Level
Implementation
Risk Factory Twente’s core innovation is experiential risk education: instead of passive learning, participants move through realistic, guided scenarios in a “mini-village” setting and practice how to recognise risk and respond. A second innovation is the combination of in-person immersion with digital reinforcement (serious game follow-up), which helps visitors repeat and retain key behaviours after the visit.
Delivery is primarily Dutch (local cohorts), with information in English and German available online.
Risk Factory Twente is implemented through a regional safety and education initiative operating a dedicated experiential learning centre. Delivery is typically coordinated by a lead organisation responsible for the facility and programme, in cooperation with public safety partners and education stakeholders.
Because this programme is embedded in a safety ecosystem and delivered with safety partners, the implementing structure reflects high DRRM experience (prevention education, preparedness communication, safety practice). Educational partners add pedagogy and group facilitation expertise.
- Centre operator / programme lead (management, scheduling, quality assurance, safeguarding)
- Public safety partners (ensure accuracy, realism, alignment with local practice)
- Education stakeholders (schools, teachers, boards that integrate visits into learning)
- Community networks (e.g., senior groups and inclusion pathways for special cohorts)
- Formalise partnerships and governance roles (safety + education pipeline)
- Design/validate scenarios (local relevance, accuracy, age appropriateness)
- Train facilitators and standardise delivery
- Run scheduled sessions for target groups (schools, seniors, special cohorts)
- Reinforce learning via follow-up tools and repeat engagement
- Improve scenarios through periodic review and operational learning
- A dedicated physical facility configured for scenario-based learning
- Trained facilitators/instructors and safeguarding procedures
- Scenario materials and controlled simulation equipment
- Coordination capacity with safety/education partners
- Optional: digital reinforcement tools (serious game)
The case is an ongoing programme with repeated delivery to cohorts and periodic optimisation of scenarios and learning tools.
Experience of the Implementing Organisation in DRM
Target Audience
Resources Required
Timeframe & Phases
Participation Results
- Immersive practice improves retention: realistic scenarios help participants remember what to do more effectively than passive information alone.
- Tailored delivery matters: children and seniors benefit from different framing, pacing, and examples, so segmented pathways increase effectiveness.
- Reinforcement is essential: combining in-person experience with follow-up tools (games/class activities) reduces the “one-and-done” effect of single visits.
- Keeping content current builds trust: regular scenario updates (especially for online risks) are needed to remain credible and useful.
A key challenge is maintaining engagement while delivering serious safety messages, especially for children. The programme addresses this through immersive, guided scenarios that feel realistic but remain safe, and through age-appropriate facilitation so participants stay attentive and remember practical actions.
A second challenge is inclusivity: different groups have different needs (children vs seniors; special cohorts; varying literacy and confidence). The programme adapts by offering tailored pathways and making learning highly visual and practice-based, so it works even when reading-heavy formats would exclude people.
A third challenge is sustaining learning after a one-time visit. The programme mitigates this by reinforcing key behaviours through follow-up tools (such as serious gaming) and an “ambassador” approach that encourages discussion beyond the session.
Implementing an immersive learning centre carries operational risks:
- Risk: uneven participation or limited uptake (schools/senior groups may not prioritise visits).
Mitigation: build stable pipelines through education boards and senior networks, offer predictable scheduling, and keep sessions easy to integrate into school programming. - Risk: safety and safeguarding in simulated scenarios (participants could feel stressed or be physically at risk in an interactive environment).
Mitigation: trained facilitators, controlled simulations, clear safety boundaries, and safeguarding protocols appropriate for children and vulnerable adults. - Risk: message inconsistency or outdated content (especially for fast-evolving digital risks).
Mitigation: periodic scenario review with safety partners and timely updates to maintain accuracy and credibility. - Risk: digital divide for follow-up tools (if reinforcement relies on digital access).
Mitigation: ensure the core learning is delivered in-person and treat digital tools as enhancement; provide offline reinforcement ideas for teachers/caregivers where possible.
Risk & Mitigation Plan
Scalability and Sustainability
This case follows a service-centre sustainability model: long-term viability depends on stable institutional ownership, partner commitment, and predictable demand (school cohorts and senior programmes). Sustainability is maintained by keeping operational quality high (trained facilitators), refreshing scenarios periodically, and embedding visits into routine education/outreach cycles.
The model scales most effectively by increasing regional capacity (more cohorts per week, more facilitators, extended operating hours) and strengthening pipelines through schools and senior networks. Scaling beyond the region typically requires replication (setting up similar centres and partnerships elsewhere), because the approach depends on a dedicated facility and trained delivery.
The educational method is stable (scenario-based experiential learning), while the scenario content is modular and can be adapted to local risk priorities, curricula, and evolving threats (e.g., changes in online risks or safety guidance).
Innovation comes from immersive scenario-based learning combined with serious gaming for reinforcement.
Direct/set-up costs typically include:
- establishing or adapting a facility suitable for immersive learning,
- building scenarios and acquiring simulation equipment/props,
- initial staff training and safeguarding procedures,
- development of reinforcement tools (e.g., serious game), if included.
Ongoing operational costs typically include:
- staffing (facilitators, programme management, scheduling),
- facility operations and maintenance,
- scenario upkeep and periodic refresh,
- partner coordination and outreach to maintain participant pipelines,
- updates to learning tools and materials as risks evolve.
- The approach is most sustainable when embedded in routine education pipelines (schools returning annually) and when senior outreach is anchored in local networks.
- Maintaining relevance requires periodic scenario refresh (especially for digital risks) and continued alignment with safety partners.
- The model’s impact potential increases when follow-up tools (games/classroom activities) help translate a single visit into repeat learning.