This webinar, held on the 3 September 2020, was organised in collaboration between the OECD Spatial Productivity Lab at the OECD Trento Centre for Local Development (an integral part of Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities) and the Regional Studies Association. The webinar was the 9th Meeting of the OECD Spatial Productivity Lab and part of our Regions Cities Industry Webinar Series, and was entitled The new reality of teleworking: People, firms places.
Experts from academia, policy and policy research were brought together to share insights and discuss the impact of COVID-19 on teleworking/ homeworking and how the increase in working from home has affected mobility, productivity, wellbeing and local public policy. Teleworking has become the new normal for many people around the world in response of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The webinar participants discussed the implications for workers, employers and society of teleworking being more widely spread and accepted as a mode of work in the future. The panellists also discussed what new policies may be required to make teleworking a success for all stakeholders, and what should we look out for when not everyone can telework due to personal circumstances, lack of public infrastructure, support from employers or for any other reason.
The virtual format of the meeting allowed for participation from across the world. The meeting attracted over 100 attendees from academia, international organisations, local institutions and NGOs as well as the policymaking community. Participants came from 25 countries (Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Russian Federation, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States of America).
Speakers:
Telework in the EU before and after Covid-19: Where we were and where we head to
Dr Matteo Sostero, Economist, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, Spain
Homeworking and its effect on productivity and wellbeing
Dr Darja Reuschke, Associate Professor in Human Geography, University of Southampton, UK
Teleworking and mobility: What do we (think we) know and not know?
Professor Patricia Mokhtarain, Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering (Transportation), Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
Exploring policy options on teleworking
Mattia Corbetta, Policy Analyst, OECD Trento Centre for Local Development, Italy
Chair: Dr John Harrison, Reader in Human Geography, Loughborough University, UK
Please see the summary document for details on individual sessions Summary SPL RSA Webinar: Teleworking
The video of the session can be viewed in RSA Lounge under Community, RSA Events on Demand.