With the launch of the first lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe, we all found it rather difficult to come to terms with the new reality and the danger of the situation. At the same time, we had to revise our activities and priorities for the remaining year, given the sudden disruption and the normalization of remote working and video calling.

As such, our Hub took immediate action by hosting numerous webinars to tackle a number of issues, ranging from topics including but not limited to:

• mental health


• employability


• post-COVID life


• new global orders


• nutrition, fitness and staying active


• misinformation


• 
  a special event with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson on repatriating Cypriots amidst the pandemic
  

The series was well-received and was featured across popular websites and on social media.

MAIN OBJECTIVES

The project aimed at addressing the emotional well-being and to raise awareness over mental and physical health-related topics in light of the first pandemic wave and lockdown of COVID-19 in March-June 2020. Given how Cyprus was under a full lockdown, with very limited mobility 24/7, organizing a series of webinars was an ideal remedy in interacting with the wider community.

IMPACT

• Wider engagement and visibility: we were able to form new partnerships and to address several organisations we were not in touch with prior to the pandemic


• Our initial observation showed increased activity online, particularly on social media. We wanted to raise awareness over the use of online platforms and how to encourage positivity over the toxic, confusing, and anxiety-driven environment the pandemic spread. Therefore, we actively encouraged #spreadingpositivity instead.


• We used individual feedback, opened up comments, engaged with the wider press and asked people to constantly message and email us whenever they had questions or if they wished to partner up on new ventures and projects. This was, indeed, very effective, as we kept on hosting several webinars as such!