Response to COVID-19

Written on 13 May 2020.

Dr. Makoto Gonokami (UTokyo), the Chair of IARU, released his message to IARU Community members. The information on how IARU universities respond to COVID-19 are also open.

Dear IARU Community members,

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude for everyone who is committed to safeguard their campuses and their community. Many IARU activities that were planned to take place this spring and in summer have been affected, and I would like to thank you again for all the organizers for taking this situation seriously and making a tough decision to either postpone or cancel these activities, which you have spent a tremendous time preparing for. I am sure that this experience will provide us with new ideas and ways to communicate with one another and we can gain new strength and networks that we can collectively use as a IARU group to contribute to the betterment of humanity.

The spread of COVID-19 is causing a major impact on our economy and society. Day and night, great efforts are being made across the globe to overcome this challenge. I would like to take this opportunity to send my deepest condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives. I also hope for a speedy recovery of those who are suffering from the illness. We are starting to realize that this pandemic may not be a temporary issue, but I am sure we can overcome it together.

COVID-19 evidently demonstrates how globally connected our activities and socio-economic systems have become. In recent years, we have seen rising calls for “our country first”, and the prioritization of self-interest. However, globalization has already reached every aspect of our lives. We are at a point where we cannot go back. The COVID-19 showed us how powerless it is, to take actions aiming only at securing interests of particular regions. Instead, we must act and work together.

This is where academia can play a critical role. Every academic activity pursue universality and have no borders. Academia has a global network based on trust. Academia can work as an alternative channel that compliments political and economic relationships and facilitate collaborations to address major global challenges. In the time of COVID-19, it is important for universities to share their wisdom and work together to tackle and also to develop new ways to continue to guarantee the education and research activities for our future.

Also, we should not forget that we have many urgent global issues to work on, even during this difficult time of the fight against COVID-19. For instance, climate change and environmental issues will not wait. The fight against COVID-19 and the global effort to create a sustainable future must take place at the same time. This is a difficult task, but we must work together to overcome it.

In this light, many of our activities taking place in the working groups of IARU is becoming more and more important. I learned that some activities are already proceeding using online communication. As chair, I would like to support these activities in any way possible.

Also, I would like to strengthen communication between the Presidents so that we can share knowledge and wisdom to tackle this global issue together. In this light, I have started to hold an online dialogue that I call President Hotline.

We have collected information from each member universities in response to the COVID-19. I hope that this webpage will be helpful for our community members to learn good practices from one another and spark new dialogue to envision and create a better future for all after the time of COVID-19.

I will keep you updated.

Gonokami Makoto,
Chair of IARU
President of the University of Tokyo

IARU Libraries supporting universities during COVID-19
Responses to COVID-19 at IARU universities