As we draw to the end of a rather ‘unusual’ 2020, we realize that this year has been all about adapting to an unprecedented situation, and making the best possible use of available resources and opportunities, given the limiting conditions. Like most organizations worldwide, we at SDCN too, had to reimagine and repurpose our usual offerings. We had to consider what would benefit our members in this context and we felt it was important that we keep doing what we do, more so in these circumstances. For our members who followed their partners to a new country in the midst of this pandemic, without a network or any support structure of their own, it has been more important than ever to be a part of a community and to connect with people who share similar experiences.

We tried to do our very best in arriving at a fine balance between trying to create that sense of community, while not compromising on our members’ safety by going remote and ensuring physical distancing.

2020 has thus been a year of many ‘firsts’. This was the first year that SDCN and our members had to toggle between in-person and online events, as we went back and forth with the changing recommendations for Covid-19. This was the first time that we had to have a cap on on-site participants and encouraged more members to join us online. This was the first year when we explored online quizzes, had our monthly fikas on Zoom, and pretty much had all our professional workshops online. This was the first time that our Swedish courses, weekly Conversational Swedish and Career Support Group sessions went online as well.

It was encouraging for us to notice a significant rise in member participation at our online events. Another positive consequence was that members have been able to join SDCN and take part in our activities even before arriving in Stockholm, thereby being more prepared in terms of their expectations, before making the actual move. While we take stock of changing circumstances on an ongoing basis, for now, we hope to be able to continue with a mix of online and on-site events in the near future.

We will now be taking a short winter break, but if you take a look at our Event calendar, you’ll see that we have already started adding on events for 2021!

Stay safe, have a great winter vacation and as the song goes – ‘Vi önskar eder alla en fröjdefull jul!’ Hopefully, 2021 marks the beginning of a much better year for everyone!

On our Instagram account, you can see some of the SDCN highlights from 2020.

Last updated 2020/12/18