To alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 policies, many initiatives have been developed by civil society organisations – NGOs, local governments, or citizens. A team of national researchers from the RESISTIRÉ project has collected and highlighted a set of particularly relevant initiatives in 27 European countries and in Iceland, Serbia, the United Kingdom and Turkey. These Better Stories currently cover eight specific domains: gender-based violence, the labour market, the economy, gender-pay and pension gaps, gender care gaps, decision-making and politics, environmental justice, human and fundamental rights.

This Better Story was collected by Suzanne de Cheveigné.

As national lockdowns led to the widespread adoption of remote learning across France, various issues, such as the digital divide, aroused or were exacerbated.

Policy measures addressing the growing digital gap

During the pandemic, the French government implemented policy measures to address four issues that arose in education. Firstly, it tried to address the growing digital divide in two ways: by allowing digitally disconnected students to receive and send back their homework by post (free of charge), and by distributing 330,000 tablets and laptops to families who experienced difficulties (as identified by schools). Secondly, there was the increased risk of school drop-outs due to the physical closure of schools and colleges. To address this development, a mentoring system was developed for pupils at risk of dropping out: teams were set up per school that tried to maintain a close contact with these pupils (i.e., via text message or WhatsApp), so that they could swiftly return to school whenever they reopened. Other measures to stop drop-outs included the launch of a communication campaign on social media, the organisation of in-person courses during the summer, and allowing school staff to set aside hours for more personalised support of vulnerable pupils.

Specific actions for pupils most in need

Thirdly, action was taken to maintain a regular educational routine between teachers and students with disabilities and an already existing platform (called Cap École Inclusive) dedicated to gather information and resources for teachers working with disabled pupils. Lastly, dedicated tools and resources were created for pupils who did not speak French as their mother tongue. Important documents detailing the national emergency and the resulting school health protocols, for instance, were translated into twelve different languages.

Image by Hatice Erol on Pixabay

To alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 policies, many initiatives have been developed by civil society organisations – NGOs, local governments, or citizens. A team of national researchers from the RESISTIRÉ project has collected and highlighted a set of particularly relevant initiatives in 27 European countries and in Iceland, Serbia, the United Kingdom and Turkey. The initiatives currently cover eight specific domains: gender-based violence, the labour market, the economy, gender-pay and pension gaps, gender care gaps, decision-making and politics, environmental justice, human and fundamental rights.

This Better Story was collected by Aart Kerremans.

15-minute cities: Creating complete, connected neighbourhoods

The City of Paris is carrying out far-reaching measures to become a ’15-minute city’, meaning that inhabitants should be able to reach whatever facilities they need within a 15-minute walk from their home. During the pandemic, it was touted as a way to sustainably reinvigorate life in an urban setting, as it should provide for the creation of more (green) public space, promote healthy lifestyles, and strengthen community networks. Implementation of a number of measures has already started, with prominent squares in Paris having been upgraded with more green (primarily trees) and more room having been kept free for pedestrians. Certain areas have been repaved with new bicycle lanes, so-called ‘coronapistes’, to improve the cycling experience across Paris during the pandemic and beyond. New community facilities have also been built and school grounds were reopened outside of school hours as green ‘oasis yards’, containing newly-planted trees and other amenities.

Context 

The ‘15-minute city’ concept has been around for longer, but Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo first proposed it for her city during her 2020 re-election campaign and started implementing initial renewals and upgrades during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Impact of the initiative

The project has helped pedestrianize and ‘green’ certain areas of the city, but it is far from being fully implemented in the entire city. For now, places like the Champs-Élysées have been refurbished, but millions of residents throughout the city have not yet seen significant changes in their neighbourhoods.

Illustration: Micael

To alleviate the impacts of COVID-19 policies, many initiatives have been developed by civil society organisations – NGOs, local governments, or citizens. A team of national researchers from the RESISTIRÉ project has collected and highlighted a set of particularly relevant initiatives in 27 European countries and in Iceland, Serbia, the United Kingdom and Turkey. The initiatives currently cover eight specific domains: gender-based violence, the labour market, the economy, gender-pay and pension gaps, gender care gaps, decision-making and politics, environmental justice, human and fundamental rights.

This societal initiative has been collected by: Suzanne de Cheveigné

Joining forces to alleviate the pandemic’s impact on the LGBT+ community

Inter-LGBT is a French network of civil society organisations supporting LGBTQI+ people. Founded in 1999, they extended their usual activity during the Covid-19 crisis, basing their responses on pre-existing actions. Members of the network include historic HIV actors such as Aides and Act-up as well as local groups, including one in the overseas territories.

At the beginning of the pandemic, members joined forces to help vulnerable LGBT+ communities during the crisis. The network created a listing of all participating organisations with details on the types of services they provide and how to reach them. The initiative targets the entire LGBT+ community and provides a wide range of support such as psychological assistance and counselling hotlines, legal support, health screening services, housing and shelter providers, guidance for asylum seekers and more. If most were already active before COVID-19, they extended their activity during the pandemic as inequalities and urgent need for help increased within the community.

The support listed is available in different formats; websites and call lines being the most common. It also includes Flag!, a mobile application launched in Spring 2020 simplifying the process of reporting homophobic and transphobic acts such as verbal abuse, discriminations, assaults as well as domestic violence within LGBT+ couples. Users can report acts anonymously and the results are geo-localised. Backed by the French government, the app aims to tackle discriminations against the LGBT+ community as well as the rise in domestic violence caused by the pandemic. In the longer term, the data gathered will inform future public policy.

Read more about the initiative