Transnational cooperation in a pandemic situation, the story of Active Citizens network
The Covid-19 profoundly shook the world. No one was at rest. Everyone had to learn new ways of living, new ways of working, new ways of communicating, new ways of socializing. And obviously, European level cooperation programmes such as URBACT had to completely review the way it was functioning. Indeed, Action Planning Networks (but not alone) mostly rely on what is called transnational exchanges, in other words, in city administration meeting with other city administrations from all over Europe. From Estonia to Portugal, from Germany to Romania, from Republic Czech to France or Italy, partners meet, exchange, learn from one another and experiment new paths towards implementing greater participatory democracy in local governance. The power and originality of such networks, not only rely on transnational exchanges but also rely on the field experience, on “seeing one another’s reality” on the ground. But, obviously, the Covid situation made these physical encounters and exchanges absolutely impossible. Therefore, and like everyone else, Active Citizens had to move from convivial, lively physical gatherings to very unstable and uncomfortable online meetings. Everyone had to learn fast and adapt quickly. No choice.
