In the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Lugano Hub of the Global Shapers Community launched SwissConverge, an online space dedicated to people's mental and physical well-being, an aspect often underestimated but challenged by quarantine and social distance. The goal was primarily to raise awareness of mental health issues in the local community by providing the Ticino population with a psychological support service run by professional psychologists and sharing content focused on emotional support. Moreover, SwissConverge collected various kinds of content dedicated to leisure time - such as online training classes or movie reviews - in order to enable people to spend quality time within the walls of their homes.

 At the end of the quarantine, with the resumption of work activities and a newfound normalcy, the need for psychological support and other free, online content gradually decreased. Confronted with this new situation, we then asked ourselves how we could continue to make a positive impact on the ground in the months following the end of the health emergency. The answer was SwissConverge 4 School, a project aimed at filling the educational gaps that middle school and high school students faced due to the pandemic, a period when education partially stopped, or at least slowed down. 

The implementation of this initiative proposed a unique educational format, at least in Canton Ticino. Through small classes (average of 3-4 students) and homogeneous by subject and level, it was possible to provide specific solutions to the requests of individual students, who were able to take classes online and in a very flexible manner. In addition, it should be emphasized that the service was completely free of charge, thus bringing a significant contribution to many families in the most disadvantaged income brackets of the population. Our educational offerings, limited to math and English, were initially based on the voluntary work of a small group of university students - primarily members of our association. As the weeks passed, we recruited additional volunteers, going on to add first German, and then history and science to the list of subjects offered.

 At the end of the school year, we experienced a surge in enrollment, thanks in particular to word of mouth on social media and among parents. This initial success helped us secure financial support from our two sponsors, La Mobiliare and Fidinam Foundation, without which the continuation of the project would not have been possible. In fact, our intention from the beginning was to start a second phase, as soon as the necessary funds were raised, by paying the teachers for their work. This then eventually materialized, with the first lessons paid beginning in early July. As the summer went on, teaching activities continued smoothly. The teaching team changed over the weeks: some, who had been with us from the beginning, ceased their activities, while others took their place. In total, more than 10 university students contributed to teaching over the summer.

 Beginning in early August, we noticed a gradual decrease in demand. Confronted with an extremely small number of learners, we finally made the decision to cease the activity at the end of September. Overall, during the spring and summer of 2020, our platform hosted 92 hours of classes, in which a total of 62 students participated, making a significant contribution to Ticino families and helping to fill, at least partially, the educational gaps of our enrollees.

 You can download the Final reports