The wide-spreading COVID-19 has posed a great threat to global economic development, people’s health, and well-being, and the realization of UN 2030 SDGs. According to the UNDP, the overall level of the Human Development Index (HDI) will see a decline for the first time since 1990. Additionally, the downward trend of the poverty rate over the past two decades may be reversed due to the economic impact caused by the COVID-19. The population affected by the severe food shortage might be doubled compared with that of 2019, amounting to 265 million. The schools’ shut-down has affected over 90% of students worldwide. On the one hand, hundreds of millions of jobs have disappeared. The practitioners in creative industries, as the ICCSD’s key focus, are one of the most affected groups. On the other hand, new technologies and creativities are emerging and put into application, for maintaining virtual exchanges during the social distancing time. Online meetings and forums, cloud exhibitions, and performances are increasingly popular in our lives. But for the less technologically advanced countries, the wide use of new technologies may further widen the gap between rich and poor. Some of the above impacts might be less severe or even disappear when the COVID-19 dies down and the vaccines are available. But still, some of the impacts will last and even become the new normal of our lives. In this background, how to drive sustainable development via innovation and creativity in such a changeable time, has become the new topics we must discuss:
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