With a third of Lincolnshire being below sea level, the coastline faces an increased risk of flooding. For the Environment Agency (EA), keeping the local community safe and well prepared for potential threats requires more than just the use of traditional engagement methods.
Challenges: With an extensive number of local residents and daily visitors, delivering vital education and information about flood resilience, as well as insight gathering, requires time and resources - the EA required an innovative solution which would allow them to reach as many of these communities and visitors as possible.
Approach: EA partnered with digital engagement platform Hello Lamp Post to improve their community relations, whilst avoiding increasing engagement costs.
With ‘Hello EA’, an AI-powered Digital Assistant deployed across locations like Skegness and Mablethorpe, the public is being provided with:
- Real-time updates on flood defences and improvements
- The ability to instantly sign up for local flood warnings
- Insights into the surrounding area’s coastal defences and how they safeguard the community
- Resilience actions communities can take to help against future flooding
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By combining EA’s in-person engagement with an innovative digital solution, the initiative is strengthening community awareness and resilience to flood-related events, ensuring residents are more informed and empowered to take action when it matters most.
Benefits: Beyond supporting day-to-day engagement, ‘Hello EA’ is unlocking valuable, insightful data from the community. By asking questions such as ‘Would you still visit this beach if there was no sand’, the Digital Assistant allows EA to truly understand the value of the coastline by capturing the public’s perceptions.
Since launch, Hello Lamp Post’s Digital Assistant has connected with over 10,000 residents and visitors - far more than EA’s in-house team could have managed in person. By engaging all-year round, the solution is providing continuous insights that will guide future planning and decision-making for the Lincolnshire coastline.
[Main image credit: Skegness, by Mark Dean22 / shutterstock.com]