“Cultural Heritage, Environment, Scientific Researches and Tourism under the Pandemic Circumstances”

By March 2020, most cultural institutions across the world were indefinitely closed (or at least with their services radically curtailed), and in-person exhibitions, events, and performances were cancelled or postponed. In response, there were intensive efforts to provide alternative or additional services through digital platforms, to maintain essential activities with minimal resources, and to document the events themselves through new acquisitions, including new creative works inspired by the pandemic.

Many individuals across the sector would temporarily or permanently lose contracts or employment with varying degrees of warning and financial assistance available. Equally, financial stimulus from governments and charities for artists would provide greatly differing levels of support depending on the sector and the country. The public demand for in-person cultural activities was expected to return, but at an unknown time and with the assumption that different kinds of experiences would be popular.

The global reduction in modern human activity such as the considerable decline in planned travel was coined anthropause and has caused many regions to experience a large drop in air pollution and water pollution. In China, lockdowns and other measures resulted in a 25 percent reduction in carbon emissions and 50 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides emissions, which one Earth systems scientist estimated may have saved at least 77,000 lives over two months. Other positive impacts on the environment include governance-system-controlled investments towards a sustainable energy transition and other goals related to environmental protection such as the European Union's seven-year €1 trillion budget proposal and €750 billion recovery plan "Next Generation EU" which seeks to reserve 25% of EU spending for climate-friendly expenditure.

Scientists are under extraordinary pressure to deliver answers and a lack of precedent and preparation, combined with severe political and social pressures, has made this an incredibly challenging time for them. Along with the disruption faced by most of the world's population—lockdown, remote working, isolation and anxiety—many researchers have felt an added pressure to understand, cure and mitigate the virus. COVID-19 is creating havoc, but it is giving us an opportunity to rethink what kind of society we want to live in. Trained to examine specific contexts, historians are attuned to the particular socioeconomic, political and environmental processes and conditions that have combined to produce COVID-19, guide policy responses, and unevenly distribute impacts both locally and globally.Although the precise origins of the disease are not yet certain, we can already see how the forces of globalisation, urbanisation, industrialisation and industrial agriculture have rendered us increasingly interconnected — not just with each other through trade and travel, but also with animals and the atmosphere through pathogens and pollution. We've made for ourselves a planetary petri-dish.

The tourism industry has been massively affected by the spread of coronavirus, as many countries have introduced travel restrictions in an attempt to contain its spread. The United Nations World Tourism Organization estimated that global international tourist arrivals might decrease by 58% to 78% in 2020, leading to a potential loss of US$0.9–1.2 trillion in international tourism receipts.

In many of the world's cities, planned travel went down by 80–90%. Conflicting and unilateral travel restrictions occurred regionally and many tourist attractions around the world, such as museums, amusement parks, and sports venues closed. UNWTO reported a 65% drop in international tourist arrivals in the first six months of 2020. Air passenger travel showed a similar decline.