If you work together with external partners, list the most important partners and briefly describe their role.
First, it is worth mentioning the Loss Prevention Fund of the Czech Insurers’ Bureau, from which the campaign is financed. Furthermore, our long-term external partner Roman Budský (a representative of the VIZE 0 Platform), who was at the birth of our campaign, cooperated in the creation of professional documents and currently ensures the media coverage of the project and the safety of seniors on the roads. Cooperation is also established with the Police of the Czech Republic, which provides the necessary statistical data on traffic accidents as required, and in addition, the national chief of traffic police, Col. Jiří Zlý filmed one of the outputs presented at the lectures. The insurance company Kooperativa also cooperates especially in public relations in individual regions. The Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic and its individual members provide great support in securing the venues where individual performances take place. Other partners are the Senior Citizens Council of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic.
Please describe the project activities you carried/are carrying out and the time period over which these were implemented.
The main goal of the long-term educational program SAFETY OF SENIORS IN TRANSPORT is to familiarize our elderly citizens with how to safely navigate the roads. Our audience are not just seniors, but younger age groups too. They are also regularly informed about how to behave properly towards elderly people in road traffic. And it is not only about safe conduct, but also about friendliness and mutual decency. After all, roads are a social environment where at least the basic rules of ethics and etiquette should be maintained. In the first round of the campaign, which ran in the years 2018–2019, 304 educational lectures were held throughout the Czech Republic in form of attractive theatrical short scenes combined with expert commentary and audio-visual presentations. This form of lectures ensures a high level of transfer of necessary information wrapped in an attractive and pleasant form. The creed of the lecture creators and all the speakers is to educate, entertain and delight the audience. Currently the second round is underway, this time with 200 lectures and an expected participation of about 20,000 seniors. The third round of the campaign will run from autumn 2022 to December 2023. In towns and municipalities where the lecture tour did not take place, educational packages were distributed to educate seniors with help of local governments or senior clubs. Moreover, the project also includes a media campaign. To reach most seniors, we are using various channels such as television, radio stations, press and online.
The spectrum of communicated topics is wide. It is aimed not only at car drivers, but also at elderly passengers, pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport passengers. For example, statistics of traffic accidents and their causes, specifics of the behaviour of older drivers in road traffic, medical examinations of drivers, the influence of diseases or medication on driver performance, equipment of modern cars and how to use it properly, changes in road traffic rules and traffic signs are discussed in detail. It is also about how to behave properly as a pedestrian, about pedestrian priority at crossings, but also about safe and healthy cycling. How to travel properly on buses and trams is also important. Indeed, every visitor to our lecture will learn a lot of interesting and useful information. And in a very accessible and entertaining way. The faces of the project are Jaroslava Obermaierová, an actress, and Jiří Štedroň, a singer, who are popular especially among the elderly population.