Virtually unlocking the power of senior volunteer historical researchers in times of COVID-19: a story of digital senior citizen engagement in Brabant

On 31 March our Zuiderwaterlinie community of senior volunteer historical researchers (average age around 70/75) was scheduled to meet in Halsteren, in the beautiful surroundings of the home of the local historical association. It was going to be a pivotal meeting. We had spent two years building this community consisting of senior citizens with a special interest in the history of the Zuiderwaterlinie. It’s a diverse group from all over Brabant, with even some members in Gelderland and Zeeland. Over the course of 8 meetings spread over 2 years connections were created and mutual interests explored. We were feeling confident we could take the next step. Just when we were about to start structurally taking on a set of interlinked research projects on the social and military history of inundations, COVID-19 prevented physical meetings. Moreover, it led to many of our community of approximately 40 people to be virtually locked into their houses: the vast majority is based in the province of Noord-Brabant and quite a few find themselves in the most severely affected areas.

A mere week into the Dutch lockdown we started wondering how we could engage with our senior community. Would that be welcomed? Would it be appropriate? How would we facilitate this? What digital skills could we actually build on in this community? Could we possibly make a quick digital connection via Linkedin or Facebook? The answer to that last question was a resounding “no” whilst simultaneously we heard an increasing desire from some of our community to try and meet somehow. We decided to go for it digitally and in the process learned incredibly valuable lessons. Here's how we did it and what we learned. 

What we did to make the digital connection:

• We started offline by sending a post card of the Zuiderwaterlinie to let everyone know that we were thinking about everyone and that we were looking to connect somehow over the next few weeks;
• Erfgoed Brabant uses Microsoft Teams and hence we swiftly decided we would use that as our meeting platform;
• We grouped participants per geographical region to ensure that we had manageable groups with a similar historical reference and local research framework. The group sizes ranged from 4 to maximum 15 participants.
• We made a sweet & simple manual for MS Teams showcasing the steps from the user perspective. In our case that quite literally meant that Anne-Wil Maris and I went through numerous calls to test and to make screen shots of every step. We also tried hard to find ways how it would NOT work to pre-empt digital mishaps.
• With all that in place we sent out three consecutive mails: one announcing that we were taking the initiative for digital regional meeting, followed two days later by one explaining the meeting logistics including the manual with the screenshots and the third and final one with the invitation with the link to the digital meeting room.

The result: four splendid, in depth regional meetings that provided a massive step forward in furthering the interlinked research to the military and social history of inundations.

What we learned in digitally connecting with the senior citizen researchers:

#yeswecan: Motivation is key: motivation of your volunteers and your own motivation to make it happen. The motivation to connect, to engage. Everything else will follow from and build on this motivation. In our case the motivation was both content driven (a shared passion for historical research in the framework of Brabant, Zuiderwaterlinie, inundations) and socially driven (reach out beyond the isolation of your own home).

#digitalskills: We found that we had actually overestimated what was expected of us as organizers and initiators in terms of support for digital skills. It turned out that sons- and daughters-in-law as well as grandchildren were mobilized to ensure that the digital skills were in place to effectively participate. Motivation is key!

#berelevant: The drive to find meaning, to be relevant in these times also, or perhaps especially for senior citizens cannot be overestimated. We started every digital meeting by asking how everyone was going and whether their families and loved ones were in good health. Stories of lives disrupted of course quickly emerged. Community members not being able to hold newly born grandchildren, burials of close friends due to COVID-19, cancelled regular meeting of councils, groups, choirs and other regular social events: many indicated that their regular weekly rhythm and with that their sense of purpose, of meaning was eroding. The digital meetings generated renewed contacts and the discussions on where to take the research next provided meaning. Jointly establishing actions and goals for the next weeks help - albeit modestly - in providing structure and a purpose for the next weeks. Acknowledge this need and engage with it from your organisation. Explore what you can offer.

#digitalplatform: a prior assessment of digital skills as well a large-scale investigation of what the best platform would be are not critical to success. Any digital platform that allows you to participate by clicking on a link is great. Skip platforms that require setting up individual accounts to participate. Offer onboarding sessions where needed, include your mobile number so that your community members can call you when they run into trouble in their quest to get into the digital meeting room. Once they are there, onboard them as you go.

#keepitsimple: We found working with a simple agenda consisting of three points worked brilliantly. Our agenda was quite simply: How are you doing? What are the main reflections that your research has inspired so far? What do you need as an individual and as a region to further your research? This agenda inspired conversations and discussions, led to new alliances within the region and motivated working arrangements for the next weeks. In addition we worked with a small set of clear meeting rules: joint he digital meeting in good spirits and with some patience and in the interaction always state your name, include who you are responding to, keep your reaction positive and focused.

#facilitate: To give maximum space to digital interaction we facilitated all regions – ranging in size from 5 to 15 volunteer senior history researchers – with three people: a technical chair responsible for a clear and balanced meeting, a strategic chair responsible for connecting different research strands to other developments and a supporting chair to take notes, remind the team of important remarks and actions etc. This worked really well considering that conversations inspired by (historic) research tend to meander.

#unlock: it is of the essence to bring the digital resources you know of to the digital table and to be willing to unlock these for everyone. Again, keep it simple: ask for what is needed, listen closely to the response and probe. Is support by mobile phone needed to get somebody started in a database like the Brabant Cloud? Is an online crash course needed in Google Drive so that research results can easily be shared? Different individuals have different needs to advance their work. Explore where they can support each other and explore where you have specific knowledge or a specific position that can unlock what it is that is needed. And act accordingly, quickly and decisively on that together. That is what gives forward motion. So please don’t forget to make follow-up arrangements and…actually follow them up!

We found that building on the basis established in the large-scale physical meetings of the past two years, these regional digital meetings unlocked an enormous wealth of in-depth historical knowledge and a sense of research purpose. As such the digital-by-circumstance offered a much welcomed and quite frankly unexpectedly productive way forward for the time to come for all of us. Our tip: no matter how busy you are, grab the opportunity to digitally connect with the volunteers or your organisation and explore what they can offer and create in the digital realm. Because that realm is here to stay. So you might as well embrace and unlock it’s opportunities with and for everyone now that the circumstances allow for little else.

If you want to know more or exchange thoughts: leaven them below this article or contact me directly. Looking forward to hearing your experiences!