'People notice how important social contact is, now that they don't have it anymore'

As a result of the corona crisis, the connectedness in the Netherlands seems to be growing. Is this change permanent? EUR professor of socio-economic transitions Derk Loorbach suspects so, he argues in an interview with the NOS.

Social change is slowly taking place as a result of the measures taken in response to the coronavirus. Loorbach: 'We are now coming together much more. People are noticing how important social contact is, now that they no longer have it. Loorbach suspects that this feeling of connectedness may be permanent: 'A lasting change in behaviour lingers after thirty days. The period is long enough, so the norm will indeed shift in a number of areas.'

If this is indeed the case, it may also have a positive effect on the next generation. We are in the generation where it still feels like a change of behaviour. But if this occurs on a large scale, then a new generation will grow up in a context where different behaviour is normal,' says Loorbach.

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