Alison is delighted to announce that it has been awarded the Civil Solidarity Prize by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) for the publication of the free course Coronavirus – What you need to know. The course was published in February last year to help the world combat the Covid-19 pandemic by informing people about the virus and teaching them how to best protect themselves. The award recognises Alison’s not-for-profit initiative which has succeeded in making accurate and life-saving information about the virus available to as many people around the globe as possible.

In order to achieve the ambitious goal of making this vital information accessible to absolutely everyone, Alison coordinated a global translation project by calling on the goodwill and talent of our community of Learners worldwide. Thousands of Learners from every corner of the world responded to the call for translators and volunteered their time to translate the course. To date, the course has been translated into over 70 languages, including more than 20 European languages. (The full list of languages in which Coronavirus: What You Need To Know is available can be found here.)

Alison Emery, who coordinated the project, was blown away by the enthusiasm, the dedication and the sheer volume of the volunteers. “In times of crisis, it is heartwarming to see and feel the solidarity and effort of people willing to give their time and eagerness to help a cause,” said Alison. “I was amazed at everyone’s contribution and zeal towards this common goal.”

The Civil Solidarity Prize also acknowledges Alison’s Hall of Fame, an initiative launched in September 2020 to celebrate, honour and thank the volunteers who took part in the project.

A year since its launch, the course has been completed by more than 350,000 people. In order to encourage people to take the course and learn how to protect themselves and their families, Alison made the PDF Certification available free of charge worldwide. The software behind the course was also designed to be as reactive as possible, allowing the content to be updated as the crisis evolves. 

“Being awarded the Civil Society Prize is a great honour for Alison. During the ebola crisis in West Africa, feedback on the ebola course made it clear that many felt that Alison was the one source of trusted information that they had access to,” says Alison CEO, Mike Feerick. “Alison is one of the largest learning platforms in the world and, conscious of a duty to our users, we undertook to translate the coronavirus course into as many languages as possible to make sure that no one was denied access to accurate and safe information. This award belongs to the hardworking Alison team members and the more than 5,000 translation volunteers.”