Think ahead - Prepare for an emergency situation is a national preparedness booklet designed for households in the Netherlands. It helps residents get ready for major disruptions, such as prolonged power or internet outages, cyber incidents, or severe weather impacts, when normal services may fail and help may not be immediately available.
The booklet translates risk into practical action by guiding readers through three steps: build an emergency kit, make an emergency plan, and talk with others and help each other out. It is structured around the idea that households should be able to manage independently for the first 72 hours, while staying connected to trusted information sources and strengthening local support networks.
Map
Think ahead
General Information
ISIG
The booklet is created in response to a risk environment described as increasingly complex for the Netherlands: cyber disruption and attempts to influence society through misinformation are presented alongside more frequent extreme weather impacts (e.g., heatwaves, storms, heavy rainfall and flooding, drought, wildfire). In this context, the central challenge is not only a single hazard, but the way disruptions can cascade across essential services that Dutch society depends on - electricity, communications, payments, water and supply chains - quickly affecting daily life and access to basic needs.
The booklet explains that in a widespread disruption, systems cannot necessarily be restored all at once and emergency services and authorities cannot support everyone immediately; they need time to organise assistance and communicate reliable, up-to-date information. Against this background, NCTV published Prepare for an emergency situation as an official household-facing guide to close the “first 72 hours” gap, shifting from general awareness to practical steps that help households prepare, self-manage for three days, and support others locally while relying on trusted information channels.
The booklet is created in response to a risk environment described as increasingly complex for the Netherlands: cyber disruption and attempts to influence society through misinformation are presented alongside more frequent extreme weather impacts (e.g., heatwaves, storms, heavy rainfall and flooding, drought, wildfire). In this context, the central challenge is not only a single hazard, but the way disruptions can cascade across essential services that Dutch society depends on—electricity, communications, payments, water and supply chains—quickly affecting daily life and access to basic needs.
The booklet explains that in a widespread disruption, systems cannot necessarily be restored all at once and emergency services and authorities cannot support everyone immediately; they need time to organise assistance and communicate reliable, up-to-date information. Against this background, NCTV in collaboration with national and civil society partners, created a campaign Think ahead and published the Prepare for an emergency situation booklet as an official household-facing guide to close the “first 72 hours” gap, shifting from general awareness to practical steps that help households prepare, self-manage for three days, and support others locally while relying on trusted information channels.
Hazard Type
Geographical Scope - Nuts
Population Size
Population Density
Needs Addressed
The solution addresses a practical preparedness gap: during a major disruption (e.g., cyberattack, blackout, flash flooding), everyday systems may stop working (power, water, internet), the duration of which can be unclear. The campaign argues that today’s risks are rising and increasingly interconnected - attacks on critical systems and more frequent extreme weather create uncertainty and the potential for cascading failures.
It therefore focuses on enabling households to be self-reliant for the first 72 hours, so residents can cope at home while authorities work to organise assistance and communicate instructions and information (including where the nearest emergency support office is).
This solution targets the general public, but it is especially relevant for people who may face greater difficulty coping during a disruption or who rely on support systems that may be interrupted. The emergency planning prompts highlight situations such as reduced mobility (e.g., if elevators stop working), dependence on home care, reliance on medical equipment or medication, and households with children that may require specific arrangements. In practice, the groups most likely to benefit from this guidance include older people, people with disabilities or chronic health needs, and families with young children. The booklet also encourages households to think ahead about who in their surroundings might need extra help and to plan informal support with neighbours, friends, or family.
The solution is a nationally coordinated public preparedness measure led by National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) in the Netherlands. It is positioned as an official, government-backed guidance product designed for nationwide use. Governance is expressed through central coordination and consistent national messaging, combined with dissemination and local relevance through cooperation with other public authorities and organisations. The solution does not describe a formal participatory governance model; instead, it focuses on clarifying household responsibilities and encouraging community-level mutual support. As such, it is framed as a “shared responsibility” model: national authorities provide the preparedness framework and trusted information channels, while households are expected to take concrete preparedness actions and build informal support networks locally. This approach strengthens resilience without requiring a new institutional structure: it uses existing government communication capacity and channels, while delegating early coping capacity to households (first 72 hours) and leveraging neighbourhood solidarity for practical assistance.
This solution is designed to raise basic household preparedness. It assumes many households may not yet be fully ready for a major disruption and provides practical steps to close that gap: build an emergency kit, make a household plan, and coordinate informally with neighbours and family. Preparedness is framed as reducing stress and uncertainty by planning ahead rather than reacting under pressure.
Rather than assuming “always-on” connectivity, the solution treats loss of electricity, internet/mobile networks and running water as realistic scenarios. It therefore promotes preparedness measures that remain functional without power or connectivity and encourages households to keep a paper copy of essential plans and contact information. This design choice makes the solution robust in situations where digital tools are unavailable.
The primary engagement mechanism is one-way public guidance (booklet + website), designed to prompt household action. There is no described mechanism for citizen co-design or shared decision-making within the solution itself. The purpose is to motivate household-level action and normalize preparedness behaviours: helping people start preparing, reduce anxiety through practical planning, and strengthen mutual support through everyday relationships (family, neighbours, local networks).
Methods of engagement include mass dissemination of clear guidance (booklet and website), practical checklists and prompts, and an emergency plan template that households are encouraged to complete, keep accessible, and discuss with others. The approach also encourages conversations and mutual aid as an informal community preparedness mechanism.
Influence is primarily individual and social: households decide how to prepare, what to prioritise in their kit, and how to organise informal support. The solution does not include a mechanism for participants to shape public policy or operational decisions.
Long-term capacity is supported through repeatable behaviours: maintaining an emergency kit, periodically checking supplies, keeping a written household plan, and strengthening local resilience by making preparedness discussable and shareable among neighbours, friends and family. The solution’s emphasis on low-tech fallbacks also builds coping capacity during prolonged digital or utility outages.
Vulnerable Groups
Governance
Emergency Preparedness
Infrastructure Readiness
Engagement Level
Empowerment Level
Implementation
The solution simplifies national risk preparedness into a clear, household-friendly “first 72 hours” model, built around three concrete actions:
1. Build an emergency kit;
2. Make an emergency plan;
3. Talk with others and help each other out.
Its main innovation is not technological, but behavioural: it turns abstract national risks into a practical routine that households can start immediately, using checklists, planning prompts, and low-tech fallbacks that still work when electricity, internet, or payment systems fail.
The solution is available in Dutch and English and is additionally provided in multiple translated versions to support accessibility for diverse audiences (including simplified formats and sign language versions where applicable).
National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV).
National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) is a national-level body working on security, resilience, and crisis/risk communication, and therefore has strong institutional experience relevant to disaster and risk management communication and preparedness messaging.
The campaign and booklet are developed and coordinated by National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and Security (NCTV) as a national preparedness and resilience communication measure. The booklet is positioned as an official government-backed guidance product intended for nationwide household use, disseminated with support from national and civil society partners.
- Develop and publish the preparedness booklet and supporting guidance webpages.
2. Distribute the booklet nationwide to households and maintain an official website as a permanent reference point.
3. Provide supporting materials that help households act (kit checklist, emergency plan prompts/templates, Q&A, stories/communication assets, translated versions).
4. Encourage households to discuss and share plans with family and neighbours and to integrate preparedness into everyday routines (e.g., periodic checks of supplies).
- Content development and editing (public-facing, plain language).
- Design and printing of the booklet and supporting materials.
- Nationwide distribution logistics to households.
- Website development and maintenance.
- Translation/localisation and accessibility adaptations.
- Communication coordination with public authorities and civil society partners to amplify reach.
- Pre-launch development phase (preparing campaign materials and booklet).
- Public launch (autumn 2025).
- National household distribution phase (late 2025 to early 2026).
- Ongoing phase: website and materials remain available for continued reference and reuse; future reprints/updates are not specified publicly.
Experience of the Implementing Organisation in DRM
Target Audience
Resources Required
Timeframe & Phases
Participation Results
No formal Lessons Learned are publicly documented in the booklet or campaign pages used for this entry. The guidance does, however, embed pragmatic learning assumptions: preparedness works best when it is simple, planned in advance, practised through routine (e.g., periodic checks), and supported socially through conversations and neighbourly help. These are presented as practical principles rather than findings from an evaluation.
Publicly available materials do not describe implementation challenges, uptake barriers, or adaptive changes made during rollout. As a public-facing guidance product, the solution focuses on what households should do rather than reporting operational lessons from distribution or reception. If additional reporting exists (e.g., post-campaign evaluation or stakeholder feedback), it is not referenced in the materials used for this entry.
The solution includes practical risk-mitigation guidance aimed at reducing secondary harms during disruptions. It emphasises accessing reliable official information, being cautious about misinformation, and preparing for the possibility that digital services may be unavailable. The recommended mitigations focus on redundancy and resilience (e.g., low-tech backups such as printed plans and battery-powered information access), and on preventing confusion and panic through advance planning and clear household agreements.
Risk & Mitigation Plan
Scalability and Sustainability
The solution is sustained through institutional ownership and public communication infrastructure: a nationally coordinated preparedness campaign with a publicly accessible website and a periodically distributed booklet. Sustainability relies on continued government commitment to maintaining the guidance, keeping the information current, and reissuing or updating materials as risks, communication channels, and recommended household measures evolve.
This solution is highly scalable because it is simple, low-cost per additional user once produced, and not dependent on specialised technology or local pilot conditions. The core model (72-hour household self-reliance + planning + mutual support + trusted information channels) can be expanded nationally through mass distribution and repeated communication cycles.
Adaptability is high, but localisation is essential. The concept transfers well to other countries, but the content must be adapted to national and local realities, including: hazard profiles, emergency numbers, warning systems, trusted official channels, governance responsibilities (who does what at national/local level), and any local crisis support structures. Without these substitutions, the guidance risks being confusing or operationally incorrect.
The solution is intentionally “low-tech resilient.” It assumes digital and utility failures are possible and therefore promotes analogue backups and redundancy (e.g., printed plans, battery-powered information access, cash, stored water). The innovation lies in behavioural design and accessibility: turning complex risk into simple action, using plain language, checklists, templates, and multi-language/accessible formats to reach diverse residents.
No information on direct costs (design, printing, distribution) was available in the publicly accessible materials used for this entry. Based on the design, the likely cost structure is front-loaded (development, printing/distribution) with relatively modest ongoing costs for web hosting, updates, and periodic reprints.
No information was available on operational costs (staffing, website maintenance, translation, campaign coordination) was available in the publicly accessible materials used for this entry. Based on the design, the likely cost structure is front-loaded (development, printing/distribution) with relatively modest ongoing costs for web hosting, updates, and periodic reprints.
This solution shows that preparedness guidance scales best when it is simple, repeatable, and low-tech, so it still works when electricity, internet, and digital payments fail. Its “72-hour” framing provides a clear time horizon that makes action feel achievable, while checklists and templates reduce friction for households. For adaptability beyond the Netherlands, the key lesson is that the model transfers well, but the details do not: warning systems, emergency numbers, trusted information channels, local governance roles, and available support services must be fully localised. Finally, long-term sustainability depends less on the format itself and more on institutional continuity: regular updates, periodic re-issuance, and ongoing communication to prevent preparedness behaviours from fading over time.