Overcoming the Coronavirus Pandemic by Coming Together as a Community

Written by Daniel Kreeger
Executive Director, Association of Climate Change Officers

So you’ve undoubtedly received and seen hundreds of posts from colleagues and organization leaders responding to the Coronavirus.  I’ve received 466 such e-mails to date and can’t count the number of social media posts.  I don’t want to add more of the same, and yet, I do want to call out some of the important sentiments I’ve seen, share a call to action, express solidarity, and provide insights on how ACCO will adapt to this challenge.

1.     Since I cannot say this any better, I will quote Abe Eshkenazi (Association of Supply Chain Management): “It is critical that we remain calm, fulfill our social responsibility to prevent further spread, and take care of each other during this challenging time.”

There are so many lessons that can be drawn upon in preparing for climate change, extreme events and pandemics.  But first, we absolutely must lead by example.  If we panic, others will.  If we are not responsible, how can we expect others to be?  If we don’t take care of each other, how can we expect to get through this ordeal, much less climate change?

Make sure your house is in order.  Take steps to check that your families, friends and neighbors are prepared.   Begin planning for a long-term change in lifestyle and work life, and be ready to adapt to ongoing changes in how we all are coping (or asked to cope) with this challenge.

Here are 3 valuable things you can do to be a contributing member of a community:

• Establish a cluster of peer practitioners communicating on a regular basis and checking in with and upon one another.  Be open, have conversations related to work and home, share professional and personal insights, but most importantly, but human and show empathy.

• Conduct at least one action every day that helps one of your peer practitioners.

• Become a mentor to a younger professional or student, who will undoubtedly be concerned about job stability or future opportunities.

2.     It was already urgent that we come together to act on climate change – now, more than ever, it is crucial that professionals across sectors come together as a community of practice.  Our field will be distracted, disaggregated and struggle for traction in the face of the most substantial public health challenge we have seen in generations, and yet, the climate is changing and that long-term challenge must be addressed.

• Participate in online community activities sharing updates, experiences and bonding opportunities.

• Take a step back and reconsider your career plans and key workplace activities.  As Ray Mabus, former secretary of the U.S. Department of the Navy one said at an ACCO event, “we must have a foot in today and a foot in tomorrow” – now is a great time to adapt and make course adjustments.

• Get involved in efforts to advance your field of practice.  ACCO will host a series of discussions over the next few months following up on outcomes of the Global Congress for Climate Change & Sustainability Professionals, which will be published shortly.  Additionally, we are forming working groups to inform the development of the CC-P® Study Guide, shape the new CC-O® credential, advise creation of new curriculum and align efforts with peer professional societies.

3.     Whether our concern is rooted in the health or economic impacts of this virus, this is a scary time.  While we will all share this experience, we will need to do so in a more isolated state than we are accustomed.

ACCO will be virtually convening our most innovative and experienced members this week to shape a series of almost daily discussions in which you can participate (even if you’re not an ACCO member).  The programs will be learning and action oriented, and/or may just create a forum for you to bond with each other.  We will announce these shortly.  At a minimum, here’s what you can expect:

• Opportunities to build your climate change competencies and become a Certified Climate Change Professional® (CC-P®) through new live online training programs starting in April (scholarships will be available for individuals struck hardest by this pandemic).

• Virtual town halls and podcast programs.

Those of you who have been to an ACCO event likely have seen that my nature is to be playful and humorous, even when conveying some of the most daunting challenges we have faced as a species and civilization.  I’m frequently asked how I can maintain an upbeat nature in the face of the information we see on a daily basis, and my response to that question (aside from my obvious stubbornness), seems as relevant to this pandemic as tackling climate change.

“We only have x days on this planet.  While we don’t know the value of x, I submit that we should make those days have meaning, joy and impact.”

I think that if we can come together with that mindset, we can do amazing things together and have one hell of a time in the process.