Working closely with Council’s key stakeholders to capture insights and co-design recommendations for an education and awareness campaign.
Situation Explained
Leisa Prowse Consulting was engaged by Brisbane City Council (Council) to facilitate a series of workshops to explore stakeholder insights and co-design recommendations for the Safe Travel Together – Heavy Vehicle and Bike Rider Education and Awareness Campaign.
Brisbane’s population has experienced significant growth in recent years, resulting in an increase in road freight and heavy vehicle moments across the road network. During this time, the number of people who ride bikes has also increased.
Recognising the importance of ensuring safer interactions between bike riders and heavy vehicle drivers, Council has developed an education and awareness campaign. This campaign seeks to encourage respectful and positive road behaviour, and a deeper understanding of the perspectives of bike riders and heavy vehicle drivers.
The Safe Travel Together campaign has been developed using the Heavy Vehicle Safety Initiative grant, which Council has received from the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.
Our Approach
Our team developed a Stakeholder Engagement Strategy following an initial Engagement Planning Workshop with Council staff. We also conducted research on existing Australian and International good and best practice education and awareness campaigns and case studies.
We then supported the establishment of Council’s Stakeholder Working Group (SWG). This group was comprised of representatives from bike rider groups, road user groups, employers of heavy vehicle drivers, government, and universities.
Over five online workshops, the SWG explored various campaign elements including objectives, strategies and tactics, key messages, target audiences, communication channels and campaign tone. The incremental and iterative approach allowed SWG members to build upon previous conversations and ideas, collaboratively designing a series of campaign elements.
Independent testing with representatives of the prioritised target audiences was conducted to explore their typical information sources and current ways they increase their safety. We also tested the proposed key messages, tools and tactics, and communication channels.
Our team then prepared a campaign recommendations document, and a supporting process and findings document.
Results
- Originally intended to be face-to-face, all five of the SWG workshops were delivered in an online environment in response to COVID-19 restrictions.
- Creative workshop design, which harnessed the potential of a range of online tools, coupled with robust facilitation ensured open discussion of different perspectives, ideas and insights during the SWG workshops, and strengthened relationships amongst stakeholder groups.
- Prepared a draft campaign recommendations document to support Council’s delivery of the education and awareness campaign.
- Prepared a process and finding document, and a process flow chart to ensure project learnings can be transferred to support the development of similar campaigns in places.
For a complete copy of Council’s report, please visit https://www.nhvr.gov.au/files/media/document/521/202409-1550-hvsi-403-brisbane-city-council-safe-travel-together-final-report.pdf