Resource Futures locks down, and connects in

As a member of the Scotland Team with Resource Futures, my working day is quite different to how it was a month ago. Back then I would have been visiting community partners in Glasgow, Linlithgow, North Berwick and Dunfermline to kick off projects funded by Zero Waste Scotland to tackle single-use items and plastics. On another day I would have been visiting one of our circular economy business support clients in Glasgow to work with them on designing a new business model to reduce waste and improve the circularity of their business. Or I would have been working away at the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Innovation in Edinburgh with my colleague Kate, on project reports, spreadsheets galore or whatever else needs doing to keep projects ticking along.

Now, you will find me, day after day, at home. Not lazing around, mind you! I’m working away still on all these projects but safely from my living room, socially isolated and abiding by the Government imposed lockdown to tackle the spread of coronavirus in the UK. In the midst of a pandemic, life is very different. Across the whole of Resource Futures and beyond, exceptional efforts are being made to support each other and the NHS with doing the best we can to ‘flatten the curve’ of this virus. My colleagues in the Evidence Team of Resource Futures have donated protective equipment they can’t currently use to the NHS including face masks and protective suits. The use of video conferencing has become a daily occurrence, with not just one-to-one virtual meetings, but even online craft groups and virtual drinks! Despite being socially isolated, I feel more connected with my colleagues down south across Bristol, Devon, Cambridge, Oxford, London and Wales than ever before.

As I write this, it’s a Thursday evening, just gone 8pm. As with, it seems, everyone else in my street, I leaned out of the window and clapped my hands and cheered for the doctors, nurses, carers, key-workers and other front-line staff of the NHS. Suddenly I’m reminded that behind every door and every window there’s a person or a family. From the comfort of my bedroom, not only do I feel more connected to my far away, and excellent colleagues in Resource Futures, but also to the length of my street. These are crucial reminders that a better, more resilient world, is only possible if we do it together. Thanks to technology, social media and online communication channels, we are more connected than ever before to do it, and our team at Resource Futures will keep looking for ways to do our part.