Resilience Roundup: January 2021 | Global Resilience Institute

For the January 2021 edition of GRI’s Resilience Roundup, we reflect on the historical events of the past month in the United States which once again reinforced our own resilience and highlighted the global resilience imperative.

This month we look back on the numerous efforts, research, and challenges happening to support resilience in the face of the continuing pandemic.

January 2021 Resilience happenings:

  1. GRI Founding Director, Dr. Stephen Flynn in News@Northeastern: Why is the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout Failing – and How Can it be Fixed?
    Dr. Stephen Flynn, spoke with News@Northeastern to discuss logistical hurdles facing COVID-19 vaccination roll outs and provided solutions for improvement. Dr. Flynn said, “We need to draw on a reserve corps of people who can be trained, or retirees with skills who can be brought back into the system.” Adding, “This needs to be an all-hands-on-deck moment where we recruit and deploy all of the skilled labor forces we can find.”
  2. GRI’s free online resource on #COVID19 Vaccines to help you #StaySafeandResilient
    In a joint effort with experts and faculty at Northeastern University’s Bouvé College of Health Sciences, GRI’s new educational module, ‘COVID-19 Vaccines 101,’ is a trustworthy, free digital resource that answers all questions surrounding the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. In 30-minutes or less, you can learn about how vaccines are made, the current options available, how they interact within the human body, and their role in bringing us out of the pandemic with safety and resilience.
  3. GRI Faculty Affiliate Shalanda Baker is bringing her Energy Justice mission to the Biden-Harris Administration
    GRI is pleased to announce, our Faculty Affiliate, Shalanda Baker, Professor of Law, Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, will serve in the Biden-Harris Administration as the Deputy Director for Energy Justice in the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the Department of Energy (DOE). Professor Baker co-created and co-directed Northeastern’s Initiative for Energy Justice in 2018, which was one of the key reasons she was chosen for this position. “There have been long-standing impacts to communities of color when it comes to energy. . . The initiative I founded at Northeastern has made a national impact,” said Baker. Congratulations Professor Baker!
  1. Spring 2021 Myra Kraft Open Classroom Has Commenced: Inspiring Design: Creating Beautiful, Just, and Resilient Places in America
    After another successful lecture series this past Fall, The Myra Kraft Open Classroom returns with a new theme: Inspiring Design. For 12 weeks, GRI Faculty Affiliate Ted Landsmark will facilitate conversations with some of America’s leading thinkers on urban design. With a diverse lineup of industries, the lectures feature experts with whom you can discuss and learn about award-winning places and innovations in urban design. Click the link above to register for free and complete access.
  1. GRI Whitepaper Wednesdays: Building Resilience during COVID-19
    This month, we shared two extremely valuable papers that shed light on the impact of COVID-19 in New England. The first paper: ‘Impacts to New England’s Commercial Fisheries,’ by Jonathan Grabowski and Steve Scyphers underscored how the dip in demand for seafood caused major disruptions to New England’s seafood industry, resulting in negative impacts that spillover into the foreseeable future.

    The second paper: ‘An Equitable, Clean Energy Recovery for New England,’ by Joan Fitzgerald laid bare the need to accelerate the implementation of clean energy agendas in New England states, who were national leaders in reducing reliance on fossil fuels before the pandemic.

  1. Flynn in The Wall Street Journal: Biden Aims to Boost Covid-19 Vaccine Distribution by Using 1950s Law
    Dr. Stephen Flynn, spoke with the Wall Street Journal about the Defense protection Act (DPA), which President Biden recently invoked. Dr. Flynn says that more aggressive use of the DPA could also give the government better information about vaccine supply chains to help it address gaps.Want more resilience new, updates, and events? Visit globalresilience.northeastern.edu/resources.