LSE Festival 2021: Shaping the Post-COVID World

The translation of climate policy into “on the ground” actions in our communities should deliver healthier, more prosperous and resilient cities with reduced greenhouse gas emissions, but how can we achieve that, and fast? Local councils have now declared climate emergencies across the UK, but the impact and effectiveness of these declarations on enhancing long-term climate action has yet to be seen. What do these declarations mean for future climate governance and mechanisms for engaging stakeholders and the public? 🔴 Meet our speaker: Candice Howarth is a Senior Policy Fellow at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at LSE, leading the Place-based Climate Action Network (PCAN) activities. She Chairs the Royal Geographical Society Climate Change Research Group, sits on the Royal Meteorological Society Climate Science Communication group, the London Heat Risk Group and the UCL Policy Commission on Communicating Climate Science. 🔴 Let us know what you thi

From rehashing business models, securing necessary safety protocols, to creating robust digital presences, we hear from our student and alumni entrepreneurs on how they navigated the new norm and dealt with the challenges and conflicts while protecting their mental health. It's been a tough time for everyone, but especially for early-stage start-ups who rely on economic certainty, available customers and ease of communication to drive their brilliant ideas forward. Social distancing, widespread lockdown, and global restrictions on travelling and movement made business growth challenging, and at times, near impossible. While innovators are known to be agile and persevering, the gravity of the situation challenged even the most resilient of entrepreneurs and forced founders to dig deep and make some difficult decision to maximise their chances of survival. This pre-recorded film includes testimonies and honest insights from two young innovators building businesses focussed on the betterm

Has the COVID-19 pandemic led to worse career prospects for young people? Research has shown a widening gap in the likelihood of young people being in employment, particularly in banking, finance and insurance, and public administration, education and health. Teresa Almeida and Ganga Shreedhar discuss the need for more inclusive labour market policies to create opportunities for younger workers to counter the adverse, long-term impacts of COVID-19. 🔴 Meet our speakers: 🔶 Teresa Almeida is a Research Officer in Behavioural Science at The Inclusion Initiative (TII). She holds an MSc in Behavioural Science from the London School of Economics. Her research is focused on inclusion, with particular interest in understanding how individual differences and contextual factors impact labour market outcomes. 🔶 Ganga Shreedhar (@geeshree) is Assistant Professor in Behavioural Sciences at the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, and an Affiliate at the Department of Geography ad En

Post-COVID19, there is talk of "building back better". What does this mean? Does it refer to making some improvement to existing economic and social arrangements whilst leaving much of its premise intact? Sunil Kumar draws upon his research on internal migrant construction workers in India — exploited in terms of wages as well as working and living conditions — to suggest that we should, instead, think of building back differently based on the idea of care. He argues that we need to go beyond the notion of "caring for" (the material conditions of societal relationships) to encompass notions of "caring about" (the person, the human). This will require a fundamental rethink of the value that society currently places on low-wage and precarious workers. "Caring about" will require investments of time: time for conversations, time to listen, time to understand, time for compassion, time for solidarity, and time to act. Each of us must carve out time to care about and share these experiences

COVID-19 has tested many countries’ health systems beyond their limits. Health services were overwhelmed by COVID patients, and populations also faced barriers trying to get care and diagnoses for other conditions. We could — and should — have been better prepared for this crisis. Professor Alistair McGuire talks about what a new LSE venture with the World Economic Forum and AstraZeneca, the Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience (PHSSR) seeks to do. He discusses the need for sustainable and resilient health systems, and what the partnership’s findings mean for the future of health services. 🔴 Meet our speaker Alistair McGuire is Head of Department and Chair of Health Economics in the Department of Health Policy (@LSEHealthPolicy) at LSE. Prior to this he was Professor of Economics at City University, London after being a tutor in Economics at the University of Oxford. He has acted as an advisor to governments and governmental bodies in the UK and internationally,

The politics of "difference" remain salient in contemporary societies; discrimination often encompasses the sometimes less obvious, but equally damaging forms of prejudice, which can lead to a breakdown of dialogue and trust between people. So how can we shape a more inclusive future? We can achieve greater inclusivity if we focus on achieving and maintaining dialogue between the diverse social groups that make up our society. Representation is also key; by striving to include more voices in debates around identity and belonging, we can better understand what facilitates and hinders acceptance and inclusion and take that forward through our research. Fostering a positive sense of national identity can also help create a sense of inclusion and belonging. Is there a way that we can have a renewed debate around Britishness that can bridge divides and foster a common culture? And what is the role of young people? 🔴 Meet our speaker Dr Manmit Bhambra is a Research Officer in the Religion an

In the post-COVID world, companies (and indeed societies) will need to develop a culture that allows them to maximise productivity whilst retaining safety. How might the principles developed for managing safety in high-risk industries help organisations successfully balance these twin aims? Organisations in high-risk domains, like aviation, energy and healthcare, have been managing risks around productivity and safety for many years. It is a tricky balance to reach: they must prioritise safety in order to not jeopardise operations, yet to remain solvent and successful they must also focus on productivity, and thus manage risk. 🔴 Meet our speaker: Tom Reader is an Associate Professor of Organisational Psychology in the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science (@LSE_PBS) at LSE. He directs the MSc in Organisational and Social Psychology, leads an MSc and Executive course on Organisational Culture, and is a chartered psychologist. 🔴 Let us know what you think or ask Tom a quest

What lessons have been learned from the pandemic in managing humanitarian responses in urban settings? How can we harness this to create a more just world where rights and dignity become the cornerstones of practice? The pandemic has had significant effects on vulnerable populations, particularly the urban poor, migrant and displaced populations around the world. They have not only been victims of the virus, but lockdowns, travel restrictions and economic downturns have severely impacted their livelihoods. Displaced populations are particularly affected due to their precarious legal and socio-political situations in many cities around the world. 🔴 Meet our speaker: Romola Sanyal is Associate Professor in Urban Geography and Programme Director of BA Geography at LSE. 🔴 Let us know what you think or ask Romola a question after you have watched the film via Twitter: @LSEGeography #LSEFestival 🔴 Join the discussion on the LSE COVID-19 blog 🔶 Trying to keep people out of cities will drive t

Throughout the pandemic, the general population, alongside policymakers, have faced extreme uncertainty. Without a full picture of the virus and how it spreads, there has been much speculation about COVID-19 transmission and how to prevent it. These new perceptions of risk can work to polarise, exclude and stigmatise certain groups or individuals, compounding existing stereotypes and forms of historical exclusion. Drawing on ethnographic insights, Nikita Simpson explores how these new relations of stigma have emerged in the UK during the pandemic. She considers how stigma has played out in relation to people from minoritised groups, essential workers and those living in multigenerational households and its damaging effects on mental health, wellbeing and social cohesion. How can we tackle these new forms of stigma? 🔴 Meet our speaker: Nikita Simpson is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at LSE, and Research Co-ordinator of the Covid and Care Research Group. 🔴 Let us know

Aliya Rao explores how unemployment reinforces gender inegalitarian norms and behaviours when it comes to time, space and emotions. How might we tackle this seemingly backwards step? The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed rampant gender inequalities. The economic downturn we are facing has led to mass unemployment, which has had a disproportionate impact on women. Research from before and during the pandemic shows that women’s job loss and unemployment — more prevalent now than ever — is becoming yet another factor that pushes women out of the workforce, out of economic self-sufficiency, and toward unpaid work in the domestic realm. 🔴 Meet our speaker: Aliya Rao is an Assistant Professor in Qualitative Research Methodology in the Department of Methodology and author of Crunch Time: How Married Couples Confront Unemployment. 🔴 Let us know what you think or ask Aliya a question after you have watched the film via Twitter: @aliyahrao #LSEFestival 🔴 Join the discussion on the LSE COVID-19 blog: