Special COVID-19 Virtual Café Open Discussion: “Resilience in Emergency”

in Communities of Practice,Events,News,Webinars

As most of us are in a lockdown situation, we thought it would be a great opportunity to create a place for sharing impressions as well as experiences about these unprecedented emergency times we are living. We decided to include in our monthly schedule a special Virtual Café for an open discussion about “Resilience in Emergency” (16th of April 2020). How are your municipalities, cities, town, neighborhoods organizing and responding to the emergency. How resilient are they? What measure is the population taking by itself, and what is from local administration?

The virtual café was very alive, we learned a lot from many different contexts all over the world. I was amazed about the contributions that people had to share with everybody else. Thank you so much to everybody who was able to come and share her/his experiences. We decided to collect all the shared information in the chat in this small blog post, to be able to circulate it even more. Below the resources. Thanks again!

  • From Sebastian Gahan
    Transition Town West Kirby is in the North West of the UK, a bit less populous than other areas, and we are a very active group, with lots of face to face groups. The lockdown situation has meant a rethink, and we’re kinda still thinking in many way! As a start we are being more active on social media, connecting with people with positive news or useful information. We are keeping up the saying hello aspect of our work, as we can’t meet physically, as a basic start.
    Lots of local groups helping out with everything from shopping to making PPE like masks etc here. Our local green spaces have also become even more valuable than ever. So many people taking advatage of them, (safely, I should add) 
  • From David Cobb
  • From Robert Vint
    • This article shows how Online Farm Markets work the USA: https://onlinefarmmarkets.com/
      EXTRACT:
      “Are you a farmer, gardener or producer selling direct to customers? You need to keep on top of order processing, sales records, inventory, and customer communications.
      Online Farm Markets is designed for the task.
      Created by farmers, for farmers, OFM provides a beautiful sales site for your customers, and the tools you need to take control of the business details of your market.”
      https://onlinefarmmarkets.com/
      Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AmTXj3IuzM
      ONLINE FARMERS MARKET MAKES IT EASIER TO BUY LOCAL
    • Market Wagon’s founder believes the family farm can be saved by giving farmers an online marketplace to sell their produce.”
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AmTXj3IuzM
    • Here’s a great video on local production of PPE equipment:  How to Help Your Hospital (Fight COVID-19 Locally) – Smarter Every Day 233  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbEj7M3aZIg
    • I’m interested in finding existing online resources / websites / templates / apps for a) helping local farmers and market traders to collectively sell online, b) for local delivery services to organise and market online, c) for streets and residents groups to set up and run mutual aid and bulk buy schemes or a) helping local farmers and market traders to collectively sell online, b) for local delivery services to organise and market online, c) for streets and residents groups to set up and run mutual aid and bulk buy schemes
  • From Cristiano Bottone
    map of local shops
    https://public.tableau.com/profile/luca3114?fbclid=IwAR1B1FcwncT8mSf7tNPOBn8YEZp9rLlNjyUDQ8g2BwkBxrPX0jDPuTbaUqQ#!/vizhome/Valsamoggia/Telefono
    Other municipalities around us then asked help to do the same
    Here is the guide (in Italian) provided to other municipalities to help them:https://wearecob.it/mappature-consegne-domicilio-bologna-provincia/?fbclid=IwAR1K3hrG4bYMiw40WBrbDWLH6FIe7v3tERRjsjFzK39upfqiMzI1OA-ddHE
  • From Carolyne Stayton
  • From Noemí Garcia
    • In Spain, I think the main portal with citizen initiatives is Frena La Curva (Spain and Iberoamérica): https://frenalacurva.net/
    • Now, they are organizing, together with some public institutions and councils, a call for projects. They Will select 10 projects and push them forward with mentoring and helping them get funding
      THANKS TO EVERYONE, HAPPY TO HAVE PARTICIPATED!
    • Also, in our website http://www.reddetransicion.org/resiliencia-ante-el-coronavirus/ we have made a list with citizen resources against Coronavirus, that we try to update weekly
  • From Luís Keel Pereira
    interesting project in another part of Portugal (Aveiro). a lot of info about local commerce and services, how to help as volunteers, how to help hospitals and public services buy making masks, etc: https://vizinhos-aveiro.pt/
  • From Fernando
    I would like to leave you with two experiences that have been very important in this phase, a group of CSA (agricultural support community) that has removed the stress in the search for food. Local commerce has also shown that it is a much more resilient solution than large surfaces.
    These are issues that despite the transition initiatives constantly address, they are now visible to everyone and a change in behavior may arise. Thank you all and see you soon.
  • From Shaktari Belew
    When I was 12 I spent a year in bed.  My piano teacher sent me a piece of nature through the mail every single day.  To be honest, it was the only thing that really fed my healing process. Now that many of us are homebound, I have found that same connection with nature – no matter how small – is still the healthiest thing I can do.  I encourage us all to think about those who are homebound and find fun, simple, even silly aspects of nature to share together … even if its only virtually.
    I want to thank you all for BEING who you are and for your caring, compassionate selves.
  • Inner Resilience Network: https://docs.google.com/document/d/186LKEwckLf5L-uEEtrNplTRXfF41oAitIwLPcoJRTfE/edit

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