We know that Ecsite is limited in the way that it can support you during the pandemic. However, we are proud to be a collaborative network and we are stronger when we share and pool our thinking.

We would like to support all Ecsite members during this period of uncertainty by inviting you to join one or both of our peer-to-peer exchange forums:

• A LinkedIn forum opened last week and will run for as long as it is required. The forum will be open 24/7 and therefore the information within can be shared and accessed at any time, as and when required.
• A series of weekly, online “drop-in” exchange sessions. The “drop-in” sessions will be held weekly, can be joined at any time and will be facilitated by a member of the Ecsite Office.

Both platforms are spaces for Ecsite members to share their experience on how the pandemic is affecting their organisation, how to prepare logistically and from a HR perspective, how to respond to the pandemic and deal with the media, how to tackle misinformation related to the virus, any foreseen financial impact on their organisations and any further topics that they wish to discuss.

All members received an email on Friday, 13 March inviting them to both forums and giving further details on the dates and times to the drop-in sessions.

At the time of writing this column, we have no plans to cancel the 2020 Ecsite Conference in Ljubljana but we are in regular contact with our Slovenian hosts and are monitoring the situation very carefully, as well as following the guidelines and policies of the World Health Organization. We will of course keep all our readers updated whenever we have further news; the safety of everyone within our network remains paramount.

We are a strong, collaborative network and the challenges we face now will only make us an even stronger network in the years that follow, of that we are certain. This pandemic will provide us with an opportunity to change the way we think and act within our institutions and we remain hopeful and positive that the entire network can get through this, especially with support as a collective.