Studies on COVID-19 and its impact

Submitted by Audry Maulana on 24 April 2020

At the start of the crisis, Orkestra created the COVID-19 Regional Competitiveness Observatory with the intention of providing analysis and reflections to support responses to the socioeconomic impacts that COVID-19 is generating in all regions.

The observatory includes two main sections:

  1. A more analytical section where you can find specific reports on the impacts of COVID-19. The first in this series is the report titled "Socioeconomic impacts of COVID-19: reflections from the Basque Country", a document which, based on the identification of the socioeconomic effects of COVID-19 in the Basque Country, has the ultimate aim of supporting policy makers in the territory as well as providing inspiration to other European regions.Orkestra is continuously publishing updated versions of these documents as well as generating new ones according to the prevailing needs of the moment.
  2. Orkestra’s blog where the research team and other international expert collaborators reflect on the various areas in which the crisis is impacting. Several posts are published weekly. The following three posts are an example:
  • The impact of the Coronavirus on cities: This study discusses the COVID-19 impact on the urban economy and the measures that cities are taking to mitigate its effect. This is an important topic because cities have become the epicentres of new capital, creativity and innovation from which new ideas and opportunities to tackle the pandemic arise. To go more in depth on this issue, Orkestra has, within the framework of the Bilbao Next Lab projectlaunched a benchmarking exercise to find out what actions and policies are being carried out by other cities.
  • Renewal and reorientation as regional strategies for a post-COVID-19 era: The article argues that more resilient regions that have the ability to react, adapt and recover from  the current crisis will have some advantages in the post COVID-19 era. These regions are also more likely to prevent future crises. The article also highlights that the speed and quality in both quantitative and qualitative terms of the recovery is not only conditioned by the short-term measures implemented during the resistance phase, but also by the measures oriented towards regional renewal and reorientation.
  • COVID-19 threat and governmental actions in NorwayThis article details the political leadership and strategy of the Norwegian government in handling the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it also provides a list of daily measures implemented in Norway from March 13th to April 7th.
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