Exchange in a year of change

Normally, this section of the report would describe our objectives for progress leading up to 2030, initiatives implemented to achieve our target of 750 participants on exchange visits by 2022 and some optimistic ideas for the future, in light of the fact that the world is in a better place than 20 years ago when we consider the percentage of the global population living in extreme poverty.

However, writing now in mid-February 2021, our outlook for the future is, putting it mildly, difficult to predict. It may be that by 2030, we will be able to look back on 2020 as a unique period in history, when our planet had a small break from emissions and our economy regressed to the level seen around 2018. Alternatively, 10 years down the line, we may look back on 2020 as the start of a new period of nationalisation, preventing us from achieving our Sustainable Development Goals, as these are wholly reliant on global cooperation. This new era of nationalisation would have been triggered when the richer nations hoarded vaccines, securing more doses than required per capita, while the poorer nations were left to share the meagre and insufficient remains.

We prefer an alternative scenario: That 2020 represented the start of innovations, new ideas and an increased focus on the situation in other countries. Norec's social mission is to support global partnership and facilitate exchange visits for personnel between organisations. This is only possible when people are allowed to travel to live and work in different countries, and this will only be a viable option once a sufficiently high percentage of the population in different countries has been vaccinated against COVID-19.

While we wait for our borders to reopen, for the spread of infection to decrease worldwide, for travel restrictions to be lifted and for it to be relatively safe to travel on exchange visits, Norec will continue to do its utmost to keep our partnerships active and to find alternative methods for sharing knowledge and competencies.

In the meantime, we can hope that the first participants will be able to travel on exchange at some point in 2021 and that, by the start of 2022, we will have achieved the rate we need to reach our goal of 750 persons on exchange visits in the space of one year. If we achieve this, then we will only be one year behind schedule.

One thing if any that can be said about the pandemic is that it has shown us how to make sure that more people are heard. We all agree that meetings on Zoom will never be a perfect substitute for face to face meetings. Digital meetings are fine when you already have an established partnership, but not that great for creating new ones. Creativity and positive discussions are much easier to achieve when you are in the same room, not having to struggle with unstable Internet access and frequent power cuts.

Nonetheless, the opportunities provided by digital aids are too valuable not to be exploited, and we should not just accept the world as it used to be.

Norec started 2020 with 220 partners in 70 different partnerships. Our aim is to have the same number at the end of 2021, but with an increase in and more varied methods for cooperation. We have gained access to an upgraded toolbox of new digital tools and intend to make full use of this when we finally reach the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. A combination of face to face meetings and digital aids will be the new standard for Norec – even when our borders reopen.