This research intends to study the response of different organizations to the Covid-19 pandemic, comparing the period from March to May 2020 with the period beginning in October 2020. It will focus on three sets of organizations: 1) Government and central administrations, 2) regional and local institutions, 3) the (socio-)health sector. The interviews conducted will be organized around three thematic entries that will help us to better understand the relationships between the different actors and organizations: 1) protection and prevention measures (masks, lock-down, curfew, isolation and physical distancing) ; 2) the organization of tests and screening (availability and choice of tests, contact cases, applications); 3) the management of patients and populations at risk (in hospital, at home, respiratory equipment, treatments, transportation). This research aims to uncover and analyse the capacities of these organisations to transform themselves or not in a period of uncertainty, by favoring an approach centered on collective action (to analyse the forms of cooperation or conflict that arise during crisis management) and a cognitive approach (which looks at the way in which actors make sense of the crisis and legitimize their actions). By comparing two periods, we will seek to see whether the capacities for cooperation differ according to whether the situation is marked by a high degree of uncertainty, urgency and extraordinary functioning; or, on the contrary, a better knowledge of the risks, less time pressure and a return to ordinary functioning. The goal will be to produce, in addition to fundamental knowledge about organizations in crisis situations, an analysis shared with the actors involved in the management of the crisis in these different organizations, with a view to collective learning.

In the wake of the Covid pandemic, but also facing soaring poverty and inequalities, local political instability, and ongoing regional conflicts, and finally enduring a financial crisis of historical magnitude, Lebanon stands today as a paradox of its own, being the country hosting the world’s highest number of refugees per capita, and also one of the world’s highest emigration rate. The accumulation of crises the country is currently facing, and the lack of prospects are likely to have a strong impact on the mental health of the entire population and induce emigration decisions. Our project builds on the assumption that the impact is particularly strong for the most disadvantaged groups, in particular refugees, that is to say both Palestinian refugees and recent Syrian refugees, but also for the Lebanese impoverished by the economic crisis. However, data on their mental health, economic and social situation and migration trajectories or prospects are lacking. This research aims to address these issues by using data from surveys conducted in two waves among three subsamples of Palestinian refugees, Syrian refugees, and Lebanese citizens from deprived neighborhoods. The same survey tool will be used to pursue two complementary research goals, firstly monitoring mental health problems in these disadvantaged groups in Lebanon and second, tracking aspirations and actual migration, and studying how physical and mental health can determine migration decisions, and how these migrations can in turn affect these dimensions of health. The project will use an innovative survey tool that combines face-to-face collection, telephone, and internet. Besides, it will enable to run a longitudinal survey: respondents will be interviewed a second time after 12 months, including those who will have emigrated. The consortium is multidisciplinary, very experienced and displays complementary disciplines and skillsets. It will combine the clinical expertise of the local team working with these populations on a daily basis and the experience of French research teams working on both migrants’ health research and on the impact of the Covid-19 on mental health, also with a strong experience in migrant surveys. The project will benefit both Lebanon and Europe. In Lebanon, results will inform decision-makers, NGOs and international institutions working in Lebanon on the situation of populations weakened by the crisis. In France and in Europe it will participate to the better anticipation and design of reception policies and programs aimed at migrants of the Middle East.

Europe is the world's oldest continent in demographic terms. It has the highest median age of all continents (38 years) and 20.6% of its population is aged 60 and over. By 2050, this figure will reach 34.5% and the number of 'oldest old' (people aged 80 and over) is expected to grow by 180% (source United Nations, 2007). Following Jamieson's (1994) prior work, policy interventions in Europe already dealing with this issue often draw inspiration from theoretical frameworks promoting 'active ageing' (WHO, 2002) or 'healthy ageing' (WHO, 2006) as a process of increasing opportunities for health to enable older people to take part in society. The healthy ageing framework rests on the combination of older people health outcomes with their capacity to lead productive lives in the society and economy. The EU and the Member states have recently launched several health monitoring programs so that a wide range of datasets concerning aged people in Europe is available by now (e.g. SHARE, ECHI, MAGGIE, EPIC, etc.). Although this statistical information has already contributed to the rapid expansion of the academic literature on the determinants of healthy ageing, their use in design and evaluation of public policies is much less developed. In their seminal study on health ageing in Europe, Agren & Berensson (2006: 202) suggest that future research should 'assess the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of health promoting interventions and interventions for the prevention of disease or ill-health throughout the life course and especially in later life.' Our aim is to provide policymakers and researchers some insights about the modalities of implementation and the expected effects of healthy ageing public policies. Two topics in particular, and the various interactions between them, could be investigated: labour force participation for economic growth and economic sustainability and social capital as involvement in voluntary associations and active communities or other social activities. We attempt to construct an economic modelling to take into account relationships between 'Labour', 'Leisure', individual characteristic, and national institutional systems. Empirical investigations would be carried out using the SHARE database. The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), is an infrastructure of micro data that has been created in response to a communication by the European Commission to the Council and the European Parliament (2000) which identified population ageing and its social and economic challenges to growth and prosperity to be among the most pressing challenges of the 21st century in Europe. Data can be used within a Healthy Ageing framework to develop analytic tools that can be adopted, used and modified by economists and other policy oriented specialists with the aim (i) to understand individuals behaviours, defining incentives and constraints that could make public policy more efficient, etc.; (ii) to carry out policy simulation using potential outcome (counterfactual) methods and simulation models; and, (iii) to developing data production on Healthy Ageing by using SHARE data and testing their relevance for policy-based analysis.