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2023-2024 NET Program Realignment: Difference between revisions

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* Address the fall-off of meeting attendance at routine NET Team Meetings;
* Address the fall-off of meeting attendance at routine NET Team Meetings;
* Prepare PBEM volunteer programming to meet and weather through the many changes coming to the City of Portland's government structure and the structural changes taking place at PBEM;
* Prepare PBEM volunteer programming to meet and weather through many changes coming to the City of Portland's government and structural changes at PBEM;
* Ensure programming is structured logically to meet the challenges of both climate change/extreme weather events, '''''and''''' the threat of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake;
* Ensure programming is ready to meet the challenges of both climate change/extreme weather events, '''''and''''' the threat of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake;
* Encourage the growth and development of block-scale neighborhood teams.
* Encourage the growth and development of block-scale neighborhood teams.
Two other important notes about this proposal:  
Two other important notes about this proposal:  


# The ideas here are reflected in what NETs are already doing and what NETs have asked PBEM to do;
* The ideas here are reflected in what NETs are already doing and what NETs have asked PBEM to do;
# We're not attempting to take options away, but to add options for NETs to organize.
* We're not attempting to take options away, but to add options for NETs to organize.
My recommended program of realignment includes:
 
* Decentralizing training opportunities away from individual teams and broadening the availability of training/exercise curriculum;
* Block/street/floor scale teams of prepared neighbors led by active NET volunteers;
* A [[wikipedia:Gamification|"gamified"]] process of neighborhood preparedness, such as has been done [https://app.smartsheet.com/b/publish?EQBCT=9094103decb2475885daa0b03ac13496 with the BEECN program];
* Development of key [[Volunteer Support Functions Introduction and Directory|Volunteer Support Functions (VSFs)]].
 
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== What is Driving Realignment? ==
== What is Driving Realignment? ==
I am proposing program realignments both in response to long-term, know issues in NET as well as some urgent realizations that have emerged:
I am proposing program realignments both in response to long-term, known issues in NET as well as some emerging realizations:


=== Climate change ===
=== Climate change ===
[[File:NPR Climate Change.jpg|alt=Actual photo of a PBEM intern before and after he found out Jeremy stole his lunch out of the fridge. Also, a fair illustration of climate extremes.|thumb|''Actual photo of a PBEM intern before and after he found out Jeremy stole his lunch out of the fridge. Also, a fair illustration of climate extremes.'']]
[[File:NPR Climate Change.jpg|alt=Actual photo of a PBEM intern before and after he found out Jeremy stole his lunch out of the fridge. Also, a fair illustration of climate extremes.|thumb|''Actual photo of a PBEM intern before and after he found out Jeremy stole his lunch out of the fridge. Also, a fair illustration of climate extremes.'']]
Since NET's founding in 1994, the threat of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake provided the urgency behind disaster preparedness and response programming. That threat remains. But a new fighter has entered the ring: extreme weather events caused by climate change. Extreme weather, such as heat domes and snow storms, have (and will continue to) take lives and result directly in more NET volunteers deployed for more hours.
Since NET's founding in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqu132vTl5Y 1994], the threat of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake drove urgency behind disaster preparedness and response programming. That threat remains. But a new fighter has entered the ring: extreme weather events caused by climate change. Extreme weather, such as heat domes and snow storms, have (and will continue to) take lives and result directly in more NET volunteers deployed for more hours.


In the immediate post-COVID era, January 2022 to October 2023, NETs logged approximately 3,917 deployment hours. That includes planned deployments, such as serving as parade guides and first aid response at the Rose Festival or fire fuel mitigation. '''61% of those deployment hours were logged in response to events caused by extreme weather.''' When I started at PBEM in 2012, that percentage was closer to 10%. And the percent attributable to extreme weather events is likely only to climb.
In the immediate post-COVID era, January 2022 to October 2023, NETs logged approximately 3,917 deployment hours. That includes planned deployments, such as serving as parade guides and first aid response at the Rose Festival or fire fuel mitigation. '''61% of those deployment hours were logged in response to events caused by extreme weather.''' When I started at PBEM in 2012, that percentage was closer to 10%. And the percent attributable to extreme weather events is likely only to climb.