COVID-19 Update
Dear Members and Supporters of SARCC
SARCC like much of the world has had to adapt to a new working environment. However, I do not think this is as unprecedented as we are led to believe. It is simply life. As usual we have had to adapt and change.
Great work has been done through the period by the SARCC Partners:
The SARCC partners meeting online rather than in person.
Joint workshop in the UK in January delivering content for the Capacity Building Programme
The Stakeholder Engagement planning “The Straw Man” is now organic and growing
The Visualisation Toolkit now has a clear blue print/strategy to work from
SARCC now has a key set of spreadsheets to track deliverables and target groups
WP2 has mapped the complex arrangement of workshops and meetings so that they fit
The goal of SARCC remains the same, and undaunted. SARCC will deliver physical pilots, and learning. It will show how nature based solutions can prevent the use of high carbon, high maintenance concrete, as a solution to the threat of rising sea-levels.
There have been some forced changes that I genuinely believe have made our operations more efficient.
There is a new onus on making the project more online. This has lowered our carbon footprint, at the very least, and also made for much more streamlined meetings. Communication can also be more efficient. However, I won’t deny that something is lost in the human contact.
As we approach Q4 SARCC will go through another review with the Joint Secretariat, which will define just how “digital” we can go. In addition, there will be a discussion on the pilots as some have been hit by some significant delays as a result of Covid. SARCC will adapt and continue.
We will also find ourselves required to produce the Annual Report which will come after the review, however this time under different circumstances as the impact of Covid is managed through the system. It is hoped that this will give SARCC some flexibility.
I am currently working on a new format that will help us deliver meetings electronically, and its possible that our major UK capacity building event to be held in 2021 will use this. I hope to trial it at the next partnership meeting.
However, difficult areas remain as the direct relationship building that would have taken place in well organised face to face meetings will not be there. The laughter over a shared meal that gives two people, who don’t know each other well, the confidence to trust each other needs to come back.
Sam - Southend-on-Sea Borough Council