Global Think Tank Town Halls
Reports and Recordings
Town Hall Report
Download: **Global Think Tank Town Hall Report**
Countries across the globe are struggling with the destructive health and economic consequences of COVID-19. However, unlike the devastating pandemic of 1918, there are opportunities in the current context to rapidly share information and collaborate across borders. Think tanks are positioned to serve policymakers and the public as they grapple earnestly with the current and future health and economic consequences of a pandemic on this scale. When stakeholders look to think tanks for research and innovative policy solutions, organizations must be ready with information and easily digestible strategies for government, civil society and private sector decision makers.
The Global Think Tank Town Halls were designed to serve as catalysts for evidence-based, policy-relevant, action-oriented policies and proposals to create solutions for saving lives and livelihoods in the wake of this COVID-19 crisis. The Think Tank Town Halls demonstrated a special moment of unity, as 1226 think tank executives, scholars and policymakers from over 540 institutions in over 87 countries met over the course of the three Town Halls. The objectives were to create rapid and proactive responses to the growing economic, public health and welfare crises that have engulfed countries around the world. The Global Think Tank Town Halls largely focused on the public health crisis, economic recovery, vulnerable populations, international cooperation, and new think tank models. The Town Halls showcased leadership, resilience, and innovation across the world, and evinced the importance of global cooperation, especially in times of crises.
The Global Think Tank Town Hall Report can be found at this link.
Recordings
Global Think Tank Town Hall 1
The first Global Think Tank Town Hall on April 7, 2020 brought together close to 400 participants from 278 institutions and 85 countries to discuss the procedural and substantive effects of COVID-19, as well as potential responses to pandemics in a post-COVID-19 world. During the opening panel of the First Town Hall, the participants discussed strategies for how think tanks can continue their work by reorienting towards the current crisis.
Think tank leaders emphasized the importance of creating and maintaining new relationships, especially those between think tanks and local actors and policymakers. Five themes for think tanks to consider going forward were presented: leadership, communication, technology, security and resiliency. By focusing on these themes, think tanks would be able to produce research and recommendations that will have a lasting policy impact.
The recording of this Town Hall meeting can be found at this link.
Global Think Tank Town Hall 2
The Second Global Think Tank Town Hall took place on May 13, 2020 and brought together 303 think tank executives, scholars and policy makers from 87 countries. The goal was to produce five action-oriented reports within 45 days that will be conveyed to the T20 Secretariat for inclusion in briefing materials for the G20. The outcomes of these reports would then be discussed at a third and final Global Think Tank Town Hall. These five action-oriented reports were produced by five respective working groups and were centered around:
Addressing the Public Health Crisis
Preparing National and International Strategies for Economic Recovery and Revitalization
Identifying Innovative and Inclusive, Public and Private Interventions Strategies to Help Vulnerable Groups
Fostering International Cooperation—Creating Rapid, Responsive, and Resilient Systems to Respond to Future Crisis
Being Fit for an Uncertain Future: New Operating Models for Think Tanks—Research, Communications and Funding
The recording of this Town Hall meeting can be found at this link.
Global Think Tank Town Hall 3
On June 30, 2020 think tank executives, scholars and policymakers came together for the largest of the three Town Hall meetings with 560 participants from over 80 countries. During this event, the five working groups established at the previous Town Hall presented their research findings from the past month. Their findings included strategic, action-oriented recommendations, as well as positive interventions occurring in various countries. These action-oriented recommendations were at the center of The Third Town Hall, as key proposals were presented during the Town Hall, and a more detailed list of recommendations was made available after the Town Hall through reports by each respective working group. As the final and main event of the Virtual Town Hall series, the Third Town Hall was essential in establishing what the role and next steps of think tanks should be during this COVID-19 pandemic. Following this Town Hall, from July 6-10th 2020, each working group held a breakout session with 30-80 attendees each to further discuss their findings and recommendations.
The recording of this Town Hall meeting can be found at this link.
Working Groups
Working Group 1: The Public Health Crisis
The first Working Group addressed the public health crisis. This group focused on issues related to the acceleration and augmentation of multinational cooperation in research and the development of drugs, vaccines, testing devices and other medical products to achieve rapid breakthroughs that will immediately benefit the international community and potentially prepare and protect the world from future pandemics.
Report and presentation links for this Working Group can be found below:
Working Group 2: Preparing National and International Strategies for Economic Recovery and Revitalization
Working Group 2 focused on preparing national and international strategies for economic recovery and revitalization. The group worked towards understanding and responding to the looming global economic crises and possible inventions to rescue and rebuild the livelihoods of workers, while also stabilizing financial systems. The team offered a number of guiding questions for the characterization of the economic policy challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic to guide future studies.
Report and presentation links for this Working Group can be found below:
Working Group 3: Identifying Innovative and Inclusive, Public and Private Intervention Strategies to Help Vulnerable Groups
Working Group 3 addressed innovative and inclusive public and private strategies to help vulnerable groups. COVID-19 reveals our nation’s long history of discrimination, which is baked into the fabric of our society.” Being that this pandemic has revealed and accelerated issues surrounding vulnerable populations, Working Group 3 was dedicated to provide strategies to address these problems. The team focused on how to advance policy frameworks that allow technology to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 while also respecting human rights, limiting potential abuses and combating disinformation campaigns.
Report and presentation links for this Working Group can be found below:
Working Group 4: Fostering International Cooperation—Creating Rapid, Responsive and Resilient Systems to Respond to Future Crisis
Working Group 4 focused on fostering international cooperation and creating resilient systems to respond to future crises. The group studied potential near-term future waves of the virus, and the likelihood of future viruses that could be even more devastating and disruptive. This group was aimed at fostering future global and local preparedness and cooperation and discussed creating social safety nets. The group suggested that think tanks as an industry need to engage at three levels: with civil society and NGOs, with states, and with the WHO and other multilateral organizations.
Report and presentation links for this Working Group can be found below:
Working Group 5: Being Fit for an Uncertain Future: New Operating Models for Think Tanks—Research, Communications and Funding
Working Group 5 addressed the topic of new operating models for think tanks research, communications and funding. The Working Group focused on think tank survival strategies, including: how think tanks can continue to operate efficiently during an economic crisis, how to manage relationships with partners, donors and allies, how to approach fundraising as a result of new circumstances as a result of COVID-19, and strategic communications. The group highlighted how think tanks have been proactively adapting in various ways through digitization efforts, communication techniques, and funding and organizational models, and how they will need to continue to adapt and change in response to this crisis.