Project: Turn off Indifference Turn on Responsibility Category: CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY&RESPONSABILITY

Summary

Eastern Lithuania suffers from a dominating public attitude of irresponsibility toward electricity network matters. Theft levels of electricity and electricity network hardware are high, individual human safety perception is low, and public willingness to perform civil duty related to the electricity infrastructure (i.e. clearing branches close to electricity wires on private property) is nearly zero.

The Client and the Agency developed a 10-year social responsibility programme aimed at addressing and tackling the problem. The programme - “Operacija 2020” - strongly involves local communities through the partnership with the Association of Chiefs of Local Authorities of Lithuania and proposes to maintain a high media profile.

In the first year, the programme started the process of changing people’s attitudes toward the electricity infrastructure and their own duties, helping to achieve the tangible results documented below.

Situation

Each year, AB “Rytų skirstomieji tinklai“ (Eng. transl. “Eastern Distribution Networks” - further referred to by the acronym RST, renamed LESTO in 2011) suffers losses amounting to millions of litas due to illegal consumption of electric energy, theft of electric network tools, parts and equipment, intentional breakage of network equipment. Due to carelessness and people’s passivity toward crime in the network, irresponsible behaviour or lack of understanding regarding their own individual duties, thousands of households are periodically left without electricity for several days annually. 900 network breakdowns caused by broken trees in private territories were recorded in 2009. Because of this, nearly 111,000 consumers were left without electric energy for 20 days. Unsafe and irresponsible digging caused more than 13,000 residents to go without electricity for 4 days. Each year, 8 to 12 accidents occur when people are injured (sometimes fatally) due to careless behaviour near network equipment or forced entry into RST-protected areas.

In 2010, RST undertook an EU directive for rational energy consumption and committed to reduce annual network losses due to burglary, theft, vandalism and consumer unwillingness to do their duties 20% by 2020. This ambitious goal has led to not only improvements in the company’s infrastructure, but also to a widely-known initiative that prompts changes in people’s attitudes and behaviour – making people act like citizens who treat electricity and its network as their own property. RST and Integrity PR created a long-term social responsibility programme “Turn off Indifference, Turn on Responsibility”.

Objectives of the programme

· To fight illegal consumption of electricity and intentional equipment damage

· To protect people from injury and accidents related to electricity

· To inform people about the possible dangers of electricity and to help them to do their own duties as electricity consumers

Goals of the programme

· To encourage people to report illegal electricity consumption and unsafe behaviour in the RST website and via confidence telephone lines

· To organize town meetings with local authorities and media to promote discussion about unsafe and illegal electricity consumption as well as responsible resident attitude and their duties on private property

· To provide information - guides, posters, information visualisations, electronic brochures - for Eastern Lithuanian residents about the project increasing familiarity with safe, responsible electricity consumption

· To organize problem-solving project competitions for local authorities and communities

Stakeholders of programme:

· Residents of Eastern Lithuania (customers of RST)

· Regional media

· Local authorities

· Local communities

The results of the programme were measured by opinion polls (Omnibus), media monitoring analysis, and internal research by RST on civic reporting (including e-mail, web, and telephone calls regarding illegal electricity consumption, possible burglary of electricity network equipment or vandalism).

Strategy

RST and Integrity PR created a long term social responsibility strategy and initiated the campaign “Operacija 2020” (Eng. transl. “Operation 2020”) the goal of which was to educate people and to promote responsible consumption of electricity and safe behavior in risky territories. The Association of Chiefs of Local Authorities of Lithuania was invited to become a partner in the programme. The programme activities included media relations (meeting media and presenting related regional statistics, informing them about telephone numbers and e-mail addresses to be used for reporting important issues, delivering regular media releases), relations with local authorities (personal meetings with chiefs of local communities and the communities themselves to invite them to join the initiative and to participate in the project competition), relations with local communities (public discussions and meetings), on-line communication (guides for safe and responsible consumption of electricity, visualizations on RST website), printed information about safe and responsible energy consumption (guides, posters) were voluntarily distributed in 274 local communities.

Execution

The programme was implemented in three stages:

· Public announcement. The programme launch in May, 2010 in Vilnius during a national media conference that was organized together with partners – The Association of Chiefs of Local Authorities of Lithuania.

· Direct communication to target audiences. The launch was followed up with road-show meetings in 15 towns of Eastern Lithuania (July-October). During these meetings, RST representatives together with journalists and local communities discussed local security and responsibility issues. Posters and guides for safe and responsible electricity consumption were provided. Local libraries received project information. In July, the programme was supported by the project competition for local authorities and communities – they were invited to provide their own ideas and actions plans that could help solve local issues related to safe and responsible consumption of electricity.

· Closure of the first year by capped of with an awarding to local communities for best ideas and contributions to programme. The first stage of the programme was finished in November. RST received 18 communities projects of which 6 were awarded with financial support.

The programme was implemented according to the original plan. However, participation of partners required more encouragement than planned.

Documented Results

· During the campaign, 18 meetings with local media and communities were organized. In the meetings, RST started partnership with 99 local authorities.

· During June–September, 5000 guides for safe and responsible electricity consumption were distributed in 274 local communities.

· RST received 18 original projects and 6 of them were awarded.

· Awareness of the initiative in Eastern Lithuania reached 16% after 6 months of the educational campaign in national and local media (Source: Omnibus/ Baltijos tyrimai). The initiative was widely discussed in national and regional media – 100 publications in newspapers, internet, R&TV.

· Reporting on electricity theft increased by 80% in the first year of the programme. The monetary value recovered from reported electricity theft fully covered the expenses of the programme in 2010.

· On 28th April, 2011 LESTO (formerly and at the start of the project RST) was awarded by the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, as well as the United Nations Development Programme in Lithuania as the best debut for Social Company of the Year – for LESTO social initiatives “Operation 2020”, “As Much as Needed”, and “Electro Magic”.

Name of the link

URL

Website of LESTO http://www.lesto.lt/lt/socialine-atsakomybe/socialines-atsakomybes-projektai/operacija-2020/951

Website of The Asociation of Chiefs of Local Authorities of Lithuania

http://www.seniunai.lt/lt/naujienos/?id=18244

Website of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour Labour

http://www.socmin.lt/index.php?-240869491