Positive Change After Covid
Covid19 has caused disruption for everyone around the world, and has created an incredibly challenging time for humankind as a whole. The deadly virus and its affects have cost us greatly, and caused much chaos. But out of chaos, comes great change.
We have spent many weeks living in a system that has been exposed as broken and biased. Working against those who need it most, and for those who don’t. We have been relying on a fragile system that simply isn’t able to support us.
However, covid, and this fragility is also providing several opportunities. I have detailed below five ways that the coronavirus can create, real, lasting and positive change.
Climate Change
I’m not saying covid was sent to us to end climate change, but the timing is pretty spectacular. In January, it was announced that we have 1 year to reverse the effects, or it will become near enough impossible. This on top of the Australian wildfires, to me it seems that Mother Nature has sent us all to our rooms - the irony that it developed from an animal has not been lost on me.
Since lockdown, factories have stopped working, production lines have been paused, less people are using their cars, people aren’t flying, and there is less human consumption in general. We have witnessed a perfect example of good change happening quickly. The ozone layer gap has closed, more people are exploring veganism, wildlife are taking back the streets and nature has started to heal from the damage we have caused.
It’s impossible to think that once things are back in full force, these will be permanent changes, but permanent change can, and does happen. Coronavirus has made many of us think about our impact on the world and what we need to do to reduce it.
Business
The way we do, and run business has changed and will never be the same again. All businesses have seen drastic changes in the past few months, due to covid, from those used to working across international offices, learning to work from home, to restaurants having to adapt to survive.
Technology has become key, from communication channels, app and business development and social media, and business should and will continue to invest in technology.
Have we seen the end of the traditional office, and has Zoom brought the world even closer together? Employees are asking for more benefits, finances have been released for business support and growth and customers are asking for better brand experiences. The businesses that fail to recognise the need to adapt during this period will fail to survive.
Better Services
The world has been turned on its head. What was considered valuable, no longer is, and what wasn’t is now worth more than gold. We NEED healthcare workers, we NEED key workers. Each of these people are making the world a better place - and keeping it going. We clap for them now, but what happens once this is all over and things are back to ‘normal’? Lest we forget. Covid has provided an in-depth insight into the value of these services, and have called out those who are preventing them from flourishing.
Covid has proven that finances can appear from once deficit funds, and laws can be changed to suit the needs of society, and all overnight. And it’s time to make ongoing changes to the services we NEED. Health care, mental health and council workers are all in high demand, and we need to pay them, and value them for this. They are underfunded, and overworked, and covid will ensure they get the physical and mental payout they deserve.
Pay rises, better hours and improved benefits are on the table, something that wasn’t even a conversation two months ago.
Education
I don’t have children, and I can’t imagine what it has been like homeschooling and keeping children entertained, and sane during these past months. And the effect that missing half a year will have on students, not to mention the mental health and development issues some may face. No one has an answer, but there are solutions. Just like business, technology is going to be important in the future of education, for both inside and outside of school. Funding needs to be available to ensure students are equipped with the tools that they need to continue learning effectively, and without disruption. Covid19 has changed the way we view education, and the need for classroom based is more important than ever. Children need structure, and friends and authority around them in order to flourish, and the classroom breaks the class divide. However, it’s the space, and the learning that needs to become more flexible, with social distancing and technology becoming permanent fixtures.
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Things will, and need to change, and after covid, we will need to rebuild, and rebuild a system that works and benefits everybody, and rewards those who have kept us going during this time. People and businesses who adapt, and learn, and apply these learnings will grow and succeed, and those that don’t will be left behind in a world that just isn’t working anymore. With crisis comes innovation, forward thinking and future proofing, and often, and without crisis, the changes we need don’t tend to happen. Overall, one thing we do know, is that if a pandemic, or global crisis happens again, the world as it stands won’t survive, so it’s in everyone’s benefits to make permanent and positive changes, that allow us to flourish, thrive and grow, and that will prevent further disruption, destruction and devastation should something like this take place again.
Written by Hayley Smith
I am the Director of Boxed Out PR, a PR company specialising in lifestyle PR, and working with purposeful companies. I am also the Deputy Head of PR of Pride in London, and I run FlowAid, campaigning for free sanitary products for homeless women and I sit on a task force to tackle period poverty in the UK. I am an Elle UK female entrepreneur 23 under 30, and was Amor Magazine's 30 Under 30 in 2018. I am a TEDx speaker.