Covid-19: Impacts and Innovations

While 2020 saw a wholesale shutdown in activity for organisations worldwide, by 2021, we had begun to learn to adapt and find new ways of working in response to the restrictions imposed by Covid-19.

The Evens Foundation team found ways to innovate and connect, strengthening existing relationships with our partners, and even realising several key projects, detailed in this report.

Inevitably, some projects did have to be put on hold, particularly those that involved large-scale public gatherings, such as the Foundation’s 30th-anniversary celebrations. But others took on new life, and our prizes took on a fresh importance – particularly the Journalism Prizes, whose recipients were affected by the wider impact of Covid-related cuts on an already precarious profession.

While the team has long-used video calling as a collaborative tool – necessitated by the geographical spread of the Foundation’s offices – during Covid-19, this approach came into its own.

It is undeniable that the quality of interactions is always improved by in-person connection. Still, Zoom allowed the team to continue to work together, share ideas, and connect to other European organisations.

Other digital platforms, such as Facebook, also took on a new significance. Instead of simply cancelling all talks and events, we worked with our partners to realise these activities online, including live debates and round-table talks. While these were open events, meaning no registration data was collected, we know anecdotally that moving online meant that some events were able to reach audiences that might not have attended in person, expanding the geographical reach of our activities.

This experience helped inform the launch of a new digital strategy later in the year, with a holistic approach to growing the Foundation’s digital audiences across its social media platforms, newsletters and website.

We will take away many lessons from our experience of Covid-19 as an organisation. Chief among these are the often underexplored potential of digital platforms for both our internal operations and external-facing projects, and the importance of agility and flexibility in both thought and action. While hard learned, we are hopeful that these lessons will help us create a more resilient and focused Foundation for the future.