ACADEMIA Letters Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate Simona Cristina Pop, Universitatea Babeș Bolyai Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic will permanently change the world - health, social, cultural, economic systems. This change started with going through a crisis situation and continues with the solutions we identify to respond to this exceptional state and to transition to the new reality. The response to the pandemic must be a holistic one and social work institutions have a central role to play in supporting vulnerable groups. This article is based on literature analysis, available public data on the COVID-19 pandemic evolution and interviews with relevant stakeholders. It is part of a larger PhD research, conducted within the Doctoral School of Sociology of Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, on the topic of “The impact of collaborative methods on social intervention solutions”, with the study case with addresses “The impact of collaborative methods during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) on public social protection services for the elderly in Cluj area”. The findings thus obtained refer to the following results. There is a perceived positive evolution in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania, in dissonance with the reality of the disadvantaged communities. There are successful examples of collaborations coordinated by various actors in the community - public institutions, non-governmental organisations, private companies. There are also areas for improvement in implementing measures to protect vulnerable groups and to support effective collaboration between institutions and the community, such as: generating data on the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups and improving integrated data management; having an unitary communication and an open dialogue with the vulnerable groups, offering continuous moral support to those in need; con- Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Simona Cristina Pop, popsimonacristina@gmail.com Citation: Pop, S.C. (2021). Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate. Academia Letters, Article 3619. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3619. 1 tinuously mobilising and channelling the available resources at the community level; increasing the use of virtual tools; stimulating bottom up decision making processes. Consequently to the findings, the upcoming conclusions emerged. For an efficient and effective recovery, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic must be a holistic response, having collaboration as an imperative. The transition stages between the response and recovery phases, in the spiral model of the pandemics evolution, are windows of opportunity for collaborative projects to be initiated, aiming for a positive collective impact as outcome. Both during the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-pandemic stage, leadership is needed and should be of key actors with an institutional perspective, with resources and proven long-term implementation capacity. Keywords: COVID-19, crisis management, collaboration, social work, elderly Introduction The recent context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest social experiment in full swing, is the perfect study case to capture society’s reaction to a crisis situation and to illustrate the topic of this research “The impact of collaborative methods on social intervention solutions” aiming even more concretely to illustrate “The impact of collaborative methods, during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) on the public social protection services for the elderly in Cluj” and the main questions it will respond, at the level of perception, are the following: “Are collaborative methods necessary tools for a sustainable social work, facing the curent pandemic and the post-crisis stage’s challenges? Have there been forms of collaboration between public social work institutions and private institutions in implementing emergency solutions to support the elderly during the pandemic in Cluj? Of what type and what was their role? Who took the lead and how were the necessary resources covered? What are the current and future challenges in social work in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic? In the curent paper, “collaborative methods” are referring to different type of publicprivate partnerships; approaches such as the collective impact approach or collaborative problem solving; group methods, collaborative learning, brainstorming, collaborative use of resources or resource sharing, and others. The “vulnerable group” refers to persons or families who are at risk of losing their ability to meet their daily living needs, in accordance with the provisions of art. 6 lit. p) of the Law on social assistance no. 292/2011. Not least, we will refer to people who are older than 60 years as in “the elderly”. Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Simona Cristina Pop, popsimonacristina@gmail.com Citation: Pop, S.C. (2021). Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate. Academia Letters, Article 3619. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3619. 2 Research The data collection in the present research was carried out through a qualitative methodology, respectively a mix of research tools, with the intention to obtain the most objective and varied conclusions and to verify and validate the results obtained, as follows: data and document analysis, case studies, interviews. The analysis of the documents aimed to achieve an extensive overview of the literature, existing studies or descriptive statistics from the official databases available to the public at the time of evaluation. The interviews were conducted on the basis of semi-structured interview guides with representatives from social work profiled government and public institutions in Cluj, non-profit organisations. These helped to gather in-depth information that complemented the other methods. The study cases are used to ilustrate successful local collaboration platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Certainly, the paper suffers from a number of limitations that provide opportunities for future research. First, the data is relevant for the quoted periods of time and considering the ongoing pandemic development, an update on the fundings will be welcomed in the future. Future research could generate new insights by using a more extensive timeline analysis. Second, there is a limited number of materials that are processed in suport of the curent findings. Consequently, to provide additional insights, future research could cover a broader set of literature than the literature this curent review is focused on. Despite limitations, the curent review aims to provide a useful contribution to knowledge. By using a systematic method to review available data on the proposed topic, it helps identifying what has been researched, what is still not known and what could be interesting to investigate in the future. Results The findings thus obtained refer to the following results. First. There is a perceived positive evolution regarding the COVID-19 pandemic management in Romania and in the Cluj county. Though there is a disonant reality regarding the protection of the vulnerable groups, especially the elderly. Second. There are successful examples of collaborations initiated and coordinated by various actors in the Cluj community - public institutions, non-governmental organisations, private companies. Third. There are also areas for improvement in the implementation of measures to protect vulnerable groups such as the elderly and to support effective collaboration between institutions and the community. Following are some of the main areas highlighted by the findings. Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Simona Cristina Pop, popsimonacristina@gmail.com Citation: Pop, S.C. (2021). Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate. Academia Letters, Article 3619. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3619. 3 Data management. Communication. Technologies and reducing the digital gap. Resource mobilisation - material and human. Governance and legislative framework. Conclusions For an effective recovery, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic must be a holistic response - collaboration, teamwork, interdisciplinary, partnership projects, the collective impact approach are needed tools. The transition stages between the response and recovery phases are windows of opportunity for initiating collaborative projects with a view to generating a positive collective impact. Both during the COVID-19 and post-pandemic pandemic, the leadership of the actors with an institutional perspective, with resources and long-term implementation capacity is needed. References Bridges, W. (1980), Transitions - https://wmbridges.com/ COVID-19 – Romanian Economic Impact Monitor; Impactul pandemiei de coronavirus asupra economiei din România: date, analize și previziuni - https://econ.ubbcluj.ro/coronavirus/ Fakhruddin, B. & Blanchard, K., Ragupathya D. (2020). Are we there yet? The transition from response to recovery for the COVID-19 pandemic. Science Direct: Progress in Disaster Science, Volum 7, part of special issue: COVID-19 Special Collection. https://www. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590061720300399 Fundația Regală Margareta a României. https://www.frmr.ro/ Giddens, A. (2010). Sociology, 5th edition. Editura All Kania, J. & Kramer, M. (2011) Colective Impact, Stanford Social Innovation Review. https:// ssir.org/articles/entry/collective_impact Law on social assistance no. 292/2011 National Institute of Statistics. https://insse.ro/cms/en Roth, M. & Rebeleanu A. (2007) Asistență socială. Cadru conceptual și aplicații practice. Ed. Presa Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Simona Cristina Pop, popsimonacristina@gmail.com Citation: Pop, S.C. (2021). Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate. Academia Letters, Article 3619. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3619. 4 Rovaccinare. https://vaccinare-covid.gov.ro/ The One Cluj platform, https://unsingurcluj.ro/ The Institution of the Prefect of Cluj. https://cj.prefectura.mai.gov.ro/ Worldometers. Live world statistics on population, government and economics, society and media, environment, food, water, energy and health. - https://www.worldometers.info/ coronavirus/ We help you from Cluj, http://ajutam.civicsuport.ro/ World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/ Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Simona Cristina Pop, popsimonacristina@gmail.com Citation: Pop, S.C. (2021). Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate. Academia Letters, Article 3619. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3619. 5 

ACADEMIA Letters Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate Simona Cristina Pop, Universitatea Babeș Bolyai Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic will permanently change the world - health, social, cultural, economic systems. This change started with going through a crisis situation and continues with the solutions we identify to respond to this exceptional state and to transition to the new reality. The response to the pandemic must be a holistic one and social work institutions have a central role to play in supporting vulnerable groups. This article is based on literature analysis, available public data on the COVID-19 pandemic evolution and interviews with relevant stakeholders. It is part of a larger PhD research, conducted within the Doctoral School of Sociology of Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, on the topic of “The impact of collaborative methods on social intervention solutions”, with the study case with addresses “The impact of collaborative methods during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) on public social protection services for the elderly in Cluj area”. The findings thus obtained refer to the following results. There is a perceived positive evolution in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in Romania, in dissonance with the reality of the disadvantaged communities. There are successful examples of collaborations coordinated by various actors in the community - public institutions, non-governmental organisations, private companies. There are also areas for improvement in implementing measures to protect vulnerable groups and to support effective collaboration between institutions and the community, such as: generating data on the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups and improving integrated data management; having an unitary communication and an open dialogue with the vulnerable groups, offering continuous moral support to those in need; con- Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Simona Cristina Pop, popsimonacristina@gmail.com Citation: Pop, S.C. (2021). Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate. Academia Letters, Article 3619. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3619. 1 tinuously mobilising and channelling the available resources at the community level; increasing the use of virtual tools; stimulating bottom up decision making processes. Consequently to the findings, the upcoming conclusions emerged. For an efficient and effective recovery, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic must be a holistic response, having collaboration as an imperative. The transition stages between the response and recovery phases, in the spiral model of the pandemics evolution, are windows of opportunity for collaborative projects to be initiated, aiming for a positive collective impact as outcome. Both during the COVID-19 pandemic and the post-pandemic stage, leadership is needed and should be of key actors with an institutional perspective, with resources and proven long-term implementation capacity. Keywords: COVID-19, crisis management, collaboration, social work, elderly Introduction The recent context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the largest social experiment in full swing, is the perfect study case to capture society’s reaction to a crisis situation and to illustrate the topic of this research “The impact of collaborative methods on social intervention solutions” aiming even more concretely to illustrate “The impact of collaborative methods, during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) on the public social protection services for the elderly in Cluj” and the main questions it will respond, at the level of perception, are the following: “Are collaborative methods necessary tools for a sustainable social work, facing the curent pandemic and the post-crisis stage’s challenges? Have there been forms of collaboration between public social work institutions and private institutions in implementing emergency solutions to support the elderly during the pandemic in Cluj? Of what type and what was their role? Who took the lead and how were the necessary resources covered? What are the current and future challenges in social work in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic? In the curent paper, “collaborative methods” are referring to different type of publicprivate partnerships; approaches such as the collective impact approach or collaborative problem solving; group methods, collaborative learning, brainstorming, collaborative use of resources or resource sharing, and others. The “vulnerable group” refers to persons or families who are at risk of losing their ability to meet their daily living needs, in accordance with the provisions of art. 6 lit. p) of the Law on social assistance no. 292/2011. Not least, we will refer to people who are older than 60 years as in “the elderly”. Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Simona Cristina Pop, popsimonacristina@gmail.com Citation: Pop, S.C. (2021). Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate. Academia Letters, Article 3619. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3619. 2 Research The data collection in the present research was carried out through a qualitative methodology, respectively a mix of research tools, with the intention to obtain the most objective and varied conclusions and to verify and validate the results obtained, as follows: data and document analysis, case studies, interviews. The analysis of the documents aimed to achieve an extensive overview of the literature, existing studies or descriptive statistics from the official databases available to the public at the time of evaluation. The interviews were conducted on the basis of semi-structured interview guides with representatives from social work profiled government and public institutions in Cluj, non-profit organisations. These helped to gather in-depth information that complemented the other methods. The study cases are used to ilustrate successful local collaboration platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Certainly, the paper suffers from a number of limitations that provide opportunities for future research. First, the data is relevant for the quoted periods of time and considering the ongoing pandemic development, an update on the fundings will be welcomed in the future. Future research could generate new insights by using a more extensive timeline analysis. Second, there is a limited number of materials that are processed in suport of the curent findings. Consequently, to provide additional insights, future research could cover a broader set of literature than the literature this curent review is focused on. Despite limitations, the curent review aims to provide a useful contribution to knowledge. By using a systematic method to review available data on the proposed topic, it helps identifying what has been researched, what is still not known and what could be interesting to investigate in the future. Results The findings thus obtained refer to the following results. First. There is a perceived positive evolution regarding the COVID-19 pandemic management in Romania and in the Cluj county. Though there is a disonant reality regarding the protection of the vulnerable groups, especially the elderly. Second. There are successful examples of collaborations initiated and coordinated by various actors in the Cluj community - public institutions, non-governmental organisations, private companies. Third. There are also areas for improvement in the implementation of measures to protect vulnerable groups such as the elderly and to support effective collaboration between institutions and the community. Following are some of the main areas highlighted by the findings. Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Simona Cristina Pop, popsimonacristina@gmail.com Citation: Pop, S.C. (2021). Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate. Academia Letters, Article 3619. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3619. 3 Data management. Communication. Technologies and reducing the digital gap. Resource mobilisation - material and human. Governance and legislative framework. Conclusions For an effective recovery, the response to the COVID-19 pandemic must be a holistic response - collaboration, teamwork, interdisciplinary, partnership projects, the collective impact approach are needed tools. The transition stages between the response and recovery phases are windows of opportunity for initiating collaborative projects with a view to generating a positive collective impact. Both during the COVID-19 and post-pandemic pandemic, the leadership of the actors with an institutional perspective, with resources and long-term implementation capacity is needed. References Bridges, W. (1980), Transitions - https://wmbridges.com/ COVID-19 – Romanian Economic Impact Monitor; Impactul pandemiei de coronavirus asupra economiei din România: date, analize și previziuni - https://econ.ubbcluj.ro/coronavirus/ Fakhruddin, B. & Blanchard, K., Ragupathya D. (2020). Are we there yet? The transition from response to recovery for the COVID-19 pandemic. Science Direct: Progress in Disaster Science, Volum 7, part of special issue: COVID-19 Special Collection. https://www. sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590061720300399 Fundația Regală Margareta a României. https://www.frmr.ro/ Giddens, A. (2010). Sociology, 5th edition. Editura All Kania, J. & Kramer, M. (2011) Colective Impact, Stanford Social Innovation Review. https:// ssir.org/articles/entry/collective_impact Law on social assistance no. 292/2011 National Institute of Statistics. https://insse.ro/cms/en Roth, M. & Rebeleanu A. (2007) Asistență socială. Cadru conceptual și aplicații practice. Ed. Presa Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Simona Cristina Pop, popsimonacristina@gmail.com Citation: Pop, S.C. (2021). Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate. Academia Letters, Article 3619. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3619. 4 Rovaccinare. https://vaccinare-covid.gov.ro/ The One Cluj platform, https://unsingurcluj.ro/ The Institution of the Prefect of Cluj. https://cj.prefectura.mai.gov.ro/ Worldometers. Live world statistics on population, government and economics, society and media, environment, food, water, energy and health. - https://www.worldometers.info/ coronavirus/ We help you from Cluj, http://ajutam.civicsuport.ro/ World Health Organisation. https://www.who.int/ Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Simona Cristina Pop, popsimonacristina@gmail.com Citation: Pop, S.C. (2021). Covid-19 can only be defeated if we collaborate. Academia Letters, Article 3619. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3619. 5