Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions and Social Context Analysis for Safe Events

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Frank Fiedrich
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research ; Human Factors, Ergonomics, Human-Machine Systems
• Term: from 2021 to 2022
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 466313334

Events like festivals, concerts and sports events have been severely curtailed because of the measures taken to contain SARS-CoV-2. Events as social settings and contexts fulfill important societal functions. They enable social exchange, cultural innovation, political participation, and provide socio-psychological relief. Despite the economic, cultural, and societal importance of events, a lastingly convincing re-opening concept has not yet been found. Not least, this is due to interacting social, technical and organizational components, which made events complex in planning and realization even before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. However, so far there is no scientifically recognized scheme for the evaluation of concepts for the reopening of events, which event organizers, approving authorities, and event service providers could use for fact-oriented guidance. NORMALISE aims to fill this gap and focuses on both crowd safety and occupational health and safety in the social and organizational context of events.A successful non-pharmaceutical intervention (NPI) for infection prevention does not only need to be effective, but also to be feasible (to enable implementation) and acceptable (to make people cooperate more likely). In order to enhance the ability to assess NPIs for the prevention of infections in the complex socio-technical setting of events on a substantiated basis, a mixed-method-design will be used: Based on insights of a literature review and semi-structured expert interviews, relevant NPIs for safe re-opening of events will be identified. In a second step, these interventions will be checked for acceptability, feasibility, and effectivity. A representative online population survey will assess the acceptance of the implementation of event related NPIs. Feasibility and effectivity of measures in event contexts will be evaluated in workshops comprising stakeholders.NORMALISE will deliver scientific and practical results in order to revive the complex socio-technical setting “event” and its important social and cultural function. As a scientific result, a temporal, factual and social systematization for the identification of explanatory “pattern variables” for organizational decisions and pathways during (pandemic) crises will be developed. Additionally, a multidimensional scheme for the evaluation of acceptance, feasibility, and effectiveness of NPIs for event-related infection prevention will be developed. This scheme serves as a scientifically substantiated baseline for socially, technically and organizationally embedded implementation of NPIs.The project builds on prior research of the principal investigator in two transdisciplinary research projects on event safety and security. Therefore, NORMALISE will benefit from the longstanding and trustful connections to the event sector and immediate access to relevant stakeholders will be possible.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Dr. Patricia M. Schütte