As the COVID-19 pandemic started to reshape the way we worked, studied and connected, also EUROAVIA had to face the difficulties of quarantines and restrictions. While at the beginning of the Business Year 2019-2020 some International Events still took place, like Aerodynamics Symposium in Forlì, or the Formation Workshop in Sevilla, the association was forced to stop the events, as traveling was hugely restricted. So, EUROAVIA had to adapt to a new virtual reality made of online events.
The first online event, as well as the first online congress, was an ExMEAC in May 2020, followed by other online congresses until the end of 2021. The International Boards of the years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 had to face big challenges, supported by the members of the Working Groups, to keep people motivated and resilient, waiting for the moment to finally meet again.
Keeping EUROAVIA active even in this difficult scenario had not been an easy task, but we found many innovative ways to do online what the association has always done: Grow together and connect through the EUROAVIA spirit. For instance, the EUROAVIA Training System Working Group launched the “Online Training Wave” to keep the EUROAVIA community engaged and active. During these sessions with a variety of topics, members could connect and develop their skills. The same Working Group led “2020: A EUROAVIA Odyssey” in November 2020, a three-week-long online training event which culminated with the creation of a short movie. Finally, the fourth generation of trainers of the ETS WG was born during the online Train New Trainers event at the end of 2021.
An online International Event was organized mainly by the IE WG in March 2021, called “EUROAVIA: Much more than an association” which was aimed at maintaining the EUROAVIA spirit alive and featured presentations about the history of EUROAVIA, its Working Groups, a cultural cooking night, and even a gaming night on the EUROAVIA Discord server!
Although challenging, EUROAVIA managed to remain active during the pandemic. The years of the pandemic still created a gap in knowledge between older and newer generations, as well as mined the general motivation of the members. All these issues would be faced bravely by EUROAVIAns in the following years: Fortunately, the desire to meet again was strong after two years of online activities only, and the comeback of physical events was just around the corner.