The global pandemic of COVID-19 has not only made a lot of shortcomings – from policy-making to health care- around the globe visible, it has also shown a lot of engagement, selflessness and empathy from the people impacted by it. A short insight on why, yet again, it comes down to the sense of community and togetherness and how Act.Now is trying to support.
Social Cohesion becomes very tangible in times like these, when the whole world realises that it is more fragile than most of us experience it in daily life. What makes or breaks a city, a community, a neighborhood is if people succeed in coming together during a crisis, support one another and maybe even put others first- in this case, vulnerable groups. Empathy, helpfulness and altruism- all of this works like glue to hold a community together and, at the end of the day, strengthens social cohesion.
Times like these bring challenges and uncertainty with them, since it is a situation we have never dealt with before. Therefore, support means everything and might range from just letting each other know that we are in this together up to organising initiatives rather spontaneously in order to help each other out.
Support also means sharing knowledge, learnings and experiences. Therefore we, at Act.Now, are happy to have a network of municipalities, young people and experts from a lot of different places around the globe who we want to give a platform to share their knowledge across borders.
Reports from Mayors
Mayors and local decision-makers are urged to act rapidly at the moment. That means to take measures in the medical field in order to secure the health of the public, but, of course, also involves practices to ensure that people are sticking together. Therefore, we are collecting videos and reports from members and friends of the NOW Mayors’ Network at the moment. Under the hashtag #mayorsmanageCOVID we will share experiences, learnings, knowledge and creative approaches.
Collection of non-medical Best Practices
Knowledge is key, especially during times of crisis, since it can make a huge difference to be one step ahead. A lot of engaged politicians as well as citizens and businesses have come up with creative solutions and approaches in order to cope with this situation- sometimes even completely self-organised. That is why together with our cooperation partner, The Innovations in Politics Institute, we have set up a Collection of non-medical Best Practices revolving around non-medical measures and responses to COVID-19. “Coping with the Crisis” is all about transferring knowledge- we deliver practices from political, civil society and corporate backgrounds. Every day, new ideas and approaches are being added to the pool to be potentially implemented elsewhere.
#stayhome: A message from NOW Youth Participants
At Act.Now we always involve young people: In diverse projects as well as at our conferences. That way we always meet engaged and motivated young citizens that are willing to make an impact. The Youth Participants from our conferences have formed a huge network and decided to also respond to the current crisis. In solidarity with each other and united in their wish to slow the spread of the virus, they share important advice from their homes in various countries. We are grateful that we know so many young people that want to speak up and take the initiative to share their message with us: #stayhome!
We hope that this crisis makes it clear that humanity as well as solidarity is key: Standing together (despite physical distance), supporting one another and living as a community will bring us closer at the end of the day.
Following the current regulations, Act.Now has closed its physical office, we are available via email though, as we are working from home. If you want to get in touch, please contact us per actnow@innovationinpolitics.eu.
