The COVID-19 pandemic: local to global implications as perceived by urban ecologists
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PERSPECTIVE ESSAY
The COVID‑19 pandemic: local to global implications as perceived by urban ecologists Ian Douglas1 · Mark Champion2 · Joy Clancy3 · David Haley4 · Marcelo Lopes de Souza5 · Kerry Morrison6 · Alan Scott7 · Richard Scott8 · Miriam Stark9 · Joanne Tippett10,11 · Piotr Tryjanowski12 · Tim Webb13 Received: 27 July 2020 / Accepted: 27 August 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract The global COVID-19 pandemic is affecting everyone, but in many different ways, stimulating contrasting reactions and responses: opportunities for some, difficulties for many. A simple survey of how individual workers in urban ecology have been coping with COVID-19 constraints found divergent responses to COVID-19 on people’s activities, both within countries and between continents. Many academics felt frustrated at being unable to do fieldwork, but several saw opportunities to change ways of working and review their engagement with the natural world. Some engaging with social groups found new ways of sharing ideas and developing aspirations without face-to-face contact. Practitioners creating and managing urban greenspaces had to devise ways to work and travel while maintaining social distancing. Many feared severe funding impacts from changed local government priorities. Around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified issues, such as environmental injustice, disaster preparation and food security, that have been endemic in most countries across the global south in modern times. However, developing and sustaining the strong community spirit shown in many places will speed economic recovery and make cities more resilient against future geophysical and people-made disasters. Significantly, topdown responses and one-size-fits-all solutions, however good the modelling on which they are based, are unlikely to succeed without the insights that local knowledge and community understanding can bring. We all will have to look at disaster preparation in a more comprehensive, caring and consistent way in future. Keywords COVID-19 · Urban ecology · Fieldwork · Funding · Environmental justice · Global south · Local knowledge
1 Introduction One of the key early responses to COVID-19 restrictions in towns and cities around the world was the increase in the use of parks and other greenspaces for exercise and recreation. Public awareness of the importance of urban greenspaces was heightened by people’s desire to escape into the open air. In Sweden, where soft measures centred around appeals to social distancing were implemented, rather than strict rules, people turned to urban nature (Samuelsson et al. 2020, p. 3). During the COVID-19 lockdown in Oslo, increases in urban greenspace use were greatest over trails within greener and more remote areas. Temporarily, green spaces probably acted as a substitute for prohibited indoor fitness and sport activities, and a refuge from stress during the COVID-19 * Ian Douglas [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
lockdown (Venter et al. 20
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