Crises bring communities together in solidarity. They cause people and institutions to question long-held assumptions and to take risks associated with innovation. They help to place collective needs, as well as norms of reciprocity and mutual aid, ahead of individual self-interests. In short, crises open temporary windows during which transformative policies for the public good that were once held to be too ambitious or unrealistic suddenly become possible.

As the global COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, disrupting nearly every aspect of social, economic, and political life in its path, it is essential to keep the resulting policy windows in view and not allow them to close until We the People set the terms of a post-pandemic “new normal.” In the Buffalo-Niagara region, the Cornell ILR School is advancing this project by drawing on its 75-year history of promoting and facilitating radical collaborations in pursuit of the common good in Western New York.

A free, open-access webinar with panelists from the Partnership for the Public Good, PUSH Buffalo, and Cornell University recently explored some of the innovative and adaptive responses to COVID-19 that are coming out of the ILR Buffalo Co-Lab’s grassroots partner institutions and collaborative community networks. It engaged with strategies for scaling up and linking these responses into a unified framework for post-pandemic equitable economic recovery in and beyond Western New York. To access this free content, click the image below: