EMPA New Zealand 2024 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
Entries open 14 February
Entries close 21 April
Entries for the 2024 awards have closed. Join the mailing list for updates and announcements about the 2025 awards.
EMPA celebrates outstanding work in emergency communications across New Zealand
EMPA aims to set benchmarks, celebrate best-practice and build a community of practice for the benefit of emergency communicators and the communities they serve.
The annual EMPA New Zealand Awards for Excellence in Emergency Communications aims to highlight outstanding emergency communications work undertaken in New Zealand over the past year.
The awards are judged in six categories:
- Readiness and resilience
- Response
- Recovery
- Research
- Media
- Community engagement
WHY ENTER?
The Awards are about recognising success. Enter the Awards to acknowledge your team and their work.
Use the submission process to profile your operational practices and understand what ‘worked’ to create that success.
Benchmark your performance against the industry’s best.
Benefit from the exposure generated by the Awards to boost your profile.
Use the prestige of winning an award in your marketing and collateral to further promote your organisation’s credibility.
A rewarding experience for your staff to know that they are part of a winning team.
Nominate your staff for individual awards to recognise their personal success and achievements.
ELIGIBILITY
The EMPA New Zealand Awards for Excellence in Emergency Communications are open to:
- All who make an active contribution to emergency management in New Zealand in any capacity provided that their activity is directly associated with communication / public information.
- Students, tutors or teaching staff in any accredited tertiary institution, whose research is directly related to emergency management in New Zealand.
- Journalists, including freelancers, who report on hazards and/or emergency responses in New Zealand.
- Individuals, teams and organisations are all eligible for nomination.
- The project, activity, research or coverage which is the subject of the nomination must be contemporary in nature, i.e. carried out or substantially completed within the previous 12 months ending 30 June 2024
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Each entry must be:
- Made via the online submission portal
- Provide sufficient information and supporting documents (up to 5) to clearly explain the entry and its response to the criteria.
CRITERIA
Readiness and Resilience
A project or activity that contributes to improved community preparedness and / or resilience.
Research
Research that advances emergency communication by:
- Improving community preparedness and / or resilience; or
- Increasing the effectiveness of communication during an emergency response; or
- Enabling agencies to better support communities recovering from an adverse event.
Media
Media reporting emergencies and/or emergency management with:
- In-depth and balanced coverage of a topic that increases public understanding of a hazard or an emergency response.
- Comprehensive and accurate reporting before or during an emergency response, contributing to public safety.
Community Engagement
Community-focused communications and engagement that involves:
- Collaborating effectively with diverse and varied communities.
- Promoting collaborative communication methods and engagement with the aim that communities will eventually drive their own programs.
EMPA Principles of Communication in Disaster and Emergency
EMPA NEW ZEALAND 2023 AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS
READINESS & RESILIENCE
Winner
WREMO | Te Whatu Ora | Wellington Water | Massey University – “Emergency Sanitation Plan and Campaign – Get Poopared!”
Highly commended
Waimakariri District Council – “Emergency Preparedness – the Waimak Way”
RECOVERY
Winner
Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management – “Cyclone Gabrielle 2023 Regional Recovery Plan for Northland | Te Mahere Whakaoranga mō Te Tai Tokerau”
RESPONSE
Winner
Unison Communications and Marketing Team – “The Power of Communications: a response to mass outages following Cyclone Gabrielle”
Highly commended
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency Communication & Engagement Team (Northland, Waikato Bay of Plenty and the East Coast) – “State Highway Response to Multiple Severe Weather Events”
Bay of Plenty CDEM Group – “BOP CDEM Cyclone Gabrielle Response”
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Winner
Marlborough District Council Project Team | Stantec | Publik – “Marlborough Sounds Future Access Study”
