2020s Crises and Change: guide to the terrain

During the winter of 2020-2021 we undertook a community enquiry to listen to stories of resilience, challenge and imagination arising from the pandemic.

We explored the differing realities and responses to Covid-19 across the UK: the importance of pre-existing conditions in the lead-up to Covid-19 (what was), the breadth of experiences and responses to the crisis (what is), and future aspirations as we emerge from it (what might be).

• Part 1 - Navigating change before the pandemic (what was)
• Part 2 - Transitional space during the pandemic (what is)
• Part 3 - Navigating an emerging future (what might be)
• Part 4 - Your reality (share your experiences)

We’ve looked from the perspectives of local communities and national systems change communities, conducted interviews, considered broader global trends and third-party research, and explored insights from scholars, writers, thinkers, workers and citizens and undertaken our own polling. 

Our briefing 'Crisis, communities and change' focuses on the results of our polling.

This work has been partly funded by the National Lottery Community Fund’s  Emerging Futures Fund. Find out more about our work in 2020s Crises and Change.

We invite you to reflect and respond...

On the one hand these insights may fuel a desire to return to the world before Covid-19 with all its familiarity, good and bad. On the other hand they may inspire a desire to carve out new systems and ways of organising that might better meet emerging needs. We’ve barely scratched the surface.

Yet we hope that the selection of insights presented here mirror, diversify or prompt your own reflections on the impact of the most significant global event since the Second World War.

Whether you’re arriving as a citizen, a community member, or as someone who works in civil society or government, we invite you to use these provocations presented in Parts 1-3 below to help re-imagine what you would like the emerging future to look like, and what your role in making that happen could be.

We simply invite you to engage with these stories and reflect on what insights might arise for you. If, as a result, you are inspired to share an aspect of your reality with us – past, present or future - we would love to hear from as we continue to build our collective narrative.

If you’re inspired to share your experiences, please leave a comment reflecting your reality.

We would love to hear form you!