Since its outbreak in Europe in February 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on societies. Vulnerable groups have been impacted disproportionately: even in countries with well-developed responses, the outbreak and its repercussions imperil the basic well-being of social groups whose livelihoods are already precarious, while the uneven distribution of suffering threatens to aggravate inequality and division.
Trilateral Research joins fourteen partners from across the EU in the recently launched Horizon 2020 COVINFORM project to analyse COVID-19 responses on the levels of government, public health, community, and information and communications.
COVINFORM will conduct research on COVID-19 responses on three levels:
- Developing risk assessment models based on available quantitative data at the European level
- Analysing documentary sources on both national and local level in 15 chosen countries
- Conducting primary empirical research in 10 target communities, gathering testimonials and analysing a multitude of sources to get a full picture of the effect of the governmental response to COVID-19 on individuals within the target communities
During all research activities, COVINFORM will take into account the intersectional nature of health and socioeconomic vulnerabilities.
“We are currently living through a global health crisis that has and is still impacting all of us. At the same time, this crisis has not affected everyone in the same way. We could observe how health and socioeconomic vulnerabilities are intersected; how certain groups have been disadvantaged compared to others by the different responses. Within the COVINFORM project, we will analyse the impact of COVID-19 responses on vulnerable groups from a variety of different perspectives. It gives us the possibility to make a difference, for this and potential upcoming crises.” – said Diotima Bertel, the COVINFORM project coordinator.
Promising practices will be evaluated in target communities through case studies spanning diverse disciplines (social epidemiology, the economics of unpaid labour, the sociology of migration, etc.) and vulnerable populations (COVID-19 patients, precarious families, migrating health care workers, etc.). The project will culminate in the development of an online portal and visual toolkit for governments, healthcare, and citizens.
Trilateral will develop a risk assessment model to evaluate the response and impact of the pandemic on national, regional and local levels. The model will encompass desk-based research identifying relevant studies and data on responses to assess pandemic planning and preparedness processes. It will look at different governmental responses and their impact: from lockdown procedures, school closures, advising to wear masks to furlough schemes and economic stimuli.
The analysis will focus on various regulatory options to support the ethical and responsible development of pandemic preparedness plans.
Meet the team:
COVINFORM was formally launched during a kick-off meeting held on 5 and 10 November 2020. The project is coordinated by SYNYO Research and brings together 16 partners from 11 countries who will integrate their expertise in a variety of disciplines as part of the project’s multi-disciplinary approach. The consortium consists of:
- A leading group of 5 academic universities who are experts in human, social and legal fields and with strong ethical and research experience.
- A driving group of 6 practitioners and research organisations representing different communities (research hospitals, NGOs, research organisations, Emergency Medical Services), providing a large coverage of the EMS and acute care practitioners, decision and policy maker chain.
- The participation of 4 industries and SMEs from the medical and security sectors, bringing the innovation and commercial exploitation experience.
The consortium consists of SYNYO (Austria), MAGEN DAVID ADOM IN ISRAEL (Israel), SAMUR PROTECCION CIVIL (Spain), UNIVERISTA CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE (Italy), SINUS MARKT- UND SOZIALFORSCHUNG GMBH (Germany), TRILATERAL RESEARCH (UK), KEMEA (Greece), FACTOR SOCIAL CONSULTORIA EM PSICOSSOCIOLOGIA E AMBIENTE LDA (Portugal), AUSTRIAN RED CROSS (Austria), MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE (UK), SOCIETATEA NAȚIONALĂ DE CRUCE ROȘIE DIN ROMÂNIA (Romania), UNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP (Belgium), SAPIENZA UNIVERSITY OF ROME (Italy), REY JUAN CARLOS UNIVERSITY (Spain), SWANSEA UNIVERSITY (UK), GOTENBORG UNIVERSITY (Sweden).
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101016247.
