In the Netherlands, COVID-19 seems to become a memory. Over the past two years, we’ve yearned for the past to become the present, and our wish has finally been answered. We are “back to normal”, so it appears. But back to what normal?
COVID-induced alterations
The pandemic has altered our lives, the (global) economy, politics, and (our ideas about) civic space. When it comes to civil society organisations (CSOs) specifically, the pandemic has changed the way of doing things. While adapting to a new reality, with necessity being the mother of invention, CSOs have found new target groups, changed their ways of working, and experienced shifts in power.
An altered normal?
Will CSOs keep the new ways of working that they have adopted? And if so, which ones, how and why? Will recently established power balances be part of our new global normal, or will power bounce back to INGOs? While we are under the impression – and honestly, quite relieved – to have our past back, Lau Schulpen (Radboud University) invites us to think about the future.
Alteration, agency and action
Partos shares this vision. That’s why we strive to gather as many global voices as possible, to reflect on the possibilities of a new normal, and to use civil society’s agency to create a future we want – before the delusion of the present decides what tomorrow will look like. Are you on the same page?
3 simple steps to translate agency into action
- Open a new email
- Put your feedback, thoughts and insights on paper
- Fill in info@partos.nl and hit the send button
Yes, I want to actualise my agency
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