ABSTRACT

This article provides results from interviews and a focus group conducted at two different points in time in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, which explored impacts of the pandemic and adaptation among water advocacy organizations in southern Ontario, Canada. Our findings show that despite the destabilizing and sometimes devastating impact of COVID-19 on grassroots organizations and their programs, by disrupting business as usual the pandemic also created the conditions for experimentation, innovation, the establishment of new capacities and strategic foci. In this paper, we share descriptive narratives from water activists in our geographic area about how they adapted and innovated their work despite the challenges of the pandemic. Our findings illustrate and add nuance to themes emerging in the literature about the impacts of the pandemic on environmental advocacy groups and other nonprofit organizations, and generate new themes for further exploration.

摘要

本文提供了在 COVID-19 大流行的第一年的两个不同时间点进行的采访和焦点小组的结果，该小组探讨了大流行的影响和加拿大安大略省南部水倡导组织的适应情况。我们的研究结果表明，尽管 COVID-19 对基层组织及其计划造成了破坏性甚至有时是毁灭性的影响，但通过破坏一切照旧，大流行也为实验、创新、建立新能力和战略重点创造了条件。在本文中，我们分享了我们所在地理区域的水活动家的描述性叙述，讲述了他们如何适应和创新他们的工作，尽管面临大流行的挑战。