Recovery, Renewal, Resilience

As remote working becomes increasingly more common during the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of countries have begun to offer Remote Working Visas where people can work as 'digital nomads' i.e. live in one country but work remotely in another. For countries offering Remote Work Visas, this has contributed to boosting economies at a time when other industries (such as tourism) are suffering. For companies employing digital nomads it offers the opportunity to pay competitive salaries to those who may be able to reduce their living costs by not working in the same country as their employer. Similar programmes may be considered at a local level, whereby employees can decide to live and work remotely in one city, and be paid by a company in another. Consider the benefits for companies, including:

• Offering flexible working to help reduce resignations from staff who are reconsidering their work life in the aftermath of COVID-19 and explore job opportunities overseas
• The reduced cost of staff e.g. the London Weighting allowance means employers pay anything between 1-20% more to employees living and working In London compared to other UK regions

Consider the benefits for local economies, including:

• Building local economies by attracting new residents e.g. one study found that 60% of people has seen people reconsider their living situation, with many setting their sights on an escape to the coast
• Rebuilding economies that were reliant on other industries e.g. tourism as people consider relocating to areas such as the coast - an area hard-hit by a diminishing tourist industry due to COVID-19

The compound impacts of COVID-19 and climate change are important examples of disruptive risks that require the renewal of existing risk-management systems and practices. Disruptive risks are defined as unexpected, widespread, protracted, transboundary and novel. To address these requires 'disruptive resilience' whereby the status quo in risk management is disrupted to encourage new and innovative way to enable towns and cities to respond and recover effectively from these risks. Consider how to use new kinds of data, modes of collaboration, financial mechanisms, innovation models and decision-making approaches meet challenges of 'disruptive resilience'. Consider:

• The development community should promote the notion of 'disruptive resilience' to respond to the rise in outlier and extreme events; the shift in established hazard patterns; the increase in multiple, simultaneous crises within single
• Policymakers and authorities need to revise urban risk-management practices, and embrace new kinds of data, collaboration, finance, innovation models and decision making
• Researchers must explore the financial, political, social and behavioural factors that inhibit or enhance disruptive resilience

During response, individuals and organisations have shown a huge outpouring of support through donations of their time and resources. Now, with people going back to work and assuming their pre-COVID activities, people and organisations may have less time to volunteer to the effort, or there may be less suitable volunteer opportunities available. Instead, people may want to show their solidarity in other ways, including by making financial donations. Consider establishing a relief fund, and publicizing its cause, to give an organised mechanism for people and businesses to show their solidarity. An organised mechanism should give people confidence that their donations will be governed appropriately.

Investment that considers sustainability to support the 'green agenda' and to continue reduction seen in Co2 emissions as a result of COVID-19.