A reflection on the impact of COVID-19 on POWER activities

2020 has started with an unprecedented situation. The current circumstances, completely unexpected, will require some rethinking also from our side. Various areas are impacted to various degrees and national governments are enforcing different measures depending on the severity of the situation of their respective country.

In this high level of uncertainty, unprecedented measures all over the world and swift switch from physical to online settings have become the current reality.

Concerning the education field and higher education institutions in particular, the impact of COVID-19 primarily relates to the ability or inability to deliver classes and already planned activities in person. Moreover, travel restrictions are having negative repercussions on international mobilities and/or cross-border events. Similarly, in the business world, the general trend has been to introduce tele-working mode and cancel non-essential travels.

The project POWER foresees a large number of physical activities and events both for students - in the form of placements - and for universities and incubators - via collaboration activities. For this reason, we are looking into possible solutions and measures in order to continue work under the given circumstances, making good use of the online settings and alternative options at our disposal.

Agility and adaptability are at the core of the incubator and start-up world. However, higher education institutions might not have the same degree of flexibility, especially when it comes to recognising remote experiences of students. Nonetheless, we are currently exploring solutions and defining the best course of action.

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash