Regional development in times of Covid-19!
Update from the Interreg Central Europe Project "MaC Village" in Austria.
The current Covid-19 pandemic raises many new questions;
- Does regional development actually work in times of Covid-19?
- What opportunities, but also challenges, arise from the current circumstances?
- Which tools make sense and have proven themselves?
Enclosed are some answers and assessment from the MaC Village project in Burgenland!
The idea in the MaC Village project is, that we bring together creative minds or people who are active or want to become active in Burgenland in three communities/regions (Güssing, Raiding, Schattendorf) and jointly develop new product ideas and services from existing resources in interaction with creative entrepreneurs. MaC Village offers a lively opportunity to network with other lateral thinkers and creative minds. But exactly this "LIVING" possibility breaks away completely in times of Covid-19 and social distancing.
After the first workshop round in October 2020 could still be conducted as a physical meeting, the second and third workshop series were conducted completely online. The respect for technology, including the challenges to deal with new tools and circumstances in live meetings, was hard for many participants and needed some time to arrive. The technology factor is also the reason why some participants were not able to participate in the workshops due to the technical infrastructure. Nevertheless, the "Agency for the Promotion of Good Taste (Cardamom)" succeeded in inspiring the participants with the new possibilities. During the workshops the participants work simultaneously with the conference tool "Zoom" and the collaborative whiteboard "Miro". In addition, the project results are played on "Trello" and shared with other countries and regions. This makes sense in the process of developing new products and services! Project ideas can be developed further, or new project groups can be found and develop new products and services for their region.
However, people who are engaged in regional development and are connected to the region need the physical exchange. This important factor must not be forgotten. Therefore, a new schedule for 2021 has been developed in the MaC Village project for the Austrian participants… More information HERE
