Recovery, Renewal, Resilience

Digital technology proved invaluable for much of society and the economy to adapt and cope with the effects of the pandemic. However, the pace of digital transformation has exposed much of the inequalities in accessing and benefiting from the digital economy. For example, during the pandemic, most SMEs adopted basic digital technologies, however, many lack the resources and infrastructure (compared to larger firms) to employ complex digital strategies that could increase growth and productivity. An uneven distribution of digital productivity advantages may accelerate a “K-shaped recovery”, which risks leaving people and places behind. Consider:

• Increase access to digital technology e.g. improve access to broadband and digital devices to provide the technical means for productivity to develop/advance. Where connectivity is “slow, expensive or non-existent”, local governments can address the digital divide and increase access by creating or investing in publicly or privately run local networks, e.g. libraries/public buildings. For example, Toronto city council, Canada:
  • launched the ConnectTo 2021 programme which increases access to affordable, high-speed internet across the city, targeted at underserved communities in the city and;
  • in partnership with a private sector partner will establish a municipal broadband network; expand access to free public Wi-Fi and design a ‘Digital Equity Policy’ to tackle the growing digital divide and support the most vulnerable and marginalized communities in the city.
• Create means by which people can increase their digital skills – training, skills development workshops etc. in collaboration with local partners (local schools, colleges, businesses, voluntary organisations). Creating an eco-system of support to tackle digital inequalities can drive inclusive productivity growth and benefit the whole community
• Implement new strategies for inclusive productivity that consider the advantages of digital technology on the local economy, productivity and community wellbeing. New strategies should be informed by evidence, taking multiple dimensions into consideration e.g. education, business innovation, housing, and infrastructure

A recent event organised by Geneva Cities Hub (GHC) and UN-Habitat examined the measures that cities across the world took to tackle economic and financial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The session discussed lessons learned and how these might inform and accelerate the development of strategies which effectively prepare for and mitigate the effects of future crisis in cities. One core response lesson identified was that “cities which have best managed the crisis are those who have been flexible in the allocation of resources and capacities to support their citizens”. A further key takeaway was the potential for tools developed by international organisations to support and drive city recovery and renewal. The tools discussed include:

1. The Urban Economic Resilience Performance Diagnostic and Planning Tool which can support cities to:

• Identify the “strengths and weaknesses of institutional and operating” mechanisms with a focus on economic recovery, renewal, and resilience building
• Analyse the “structure and functioning” of cities and effectively measure economic performance. This tool can specifically help cities to understand how these factors impact vulnerability to shocks and stressors, and broader local resilience
• Inform the design and implementation of comprehensive Recovery Strategies and Renewal Initiatives that restore and enhance preparedness, and tackle systemic socio-economic conditions to reduce vulnerabilities

1. The Municipal Financial Self-Assessment Tool which aims to support cities to:

• Analyse city financial health and identify strategies that will improve the “mobilization of local resources, financial management, public spending, assets management (public), investment programming and access to external funding”
• Evaluate local budgets, finance management practices, city savings capacity, investment history and future opportunities, and review financial forecasts
• Benchmark according to a set of comparable key indicators and ratios
• Define strategies for a ‘Municipal Finance Improvement Plan’ aiming for “greater accountability, visibility and efficiency in the use of public funds”
• The local government of Kisela Voda, Macedonia, detailed how this tool supported them to mobilize local resources such as increasing land development fees and selling municipal assets

1. The City Resilience Profiling Tool, designed to:

• Assess and understand unique urban systems by engaging local governments, the private sector and civil society stakeholders to build city resilience
• Support the establishment of strategies that consider five core and interdependent components: “spatial attributes; organisational attributes; physical attributes; functional attributes; and time”

Cities’ have been in the forefront of the fight against the pandemic, by providing emergency services, containing the spread of disease, mitigating the resulting social and economic impact, and coordinating efforts for recovery. In addition, cities have delivered financial aid to companies and families in need, and reduced or suspended municipal taxes (see European Committee of the Regions). Naturally, this has impacted their public finances and there have been various calls to change how cities are funded, in order to increase fiscal resilience. The current funding model for most cities, around the world, is primarily based in transfers from national governments. Own revenues, such as taxes, comprise the second most important source of revenue to cities, followed by external financing. The UN proposes reversing the current model, by decreasing the dependency on national transfers and increasing revenues from own revenues and external financing. The UN recommends the following:

• Provide funding to cities to support economic recovery, for example:
  • National governments could provide emergency funding to cities earmarked for service provision, infrastructure, and special relief programs for populations
• Improve the accessibility of finance and credit for local governments, by allowing them direct access to grant/loan applications and enabling them to develop public private partnerships
• “Strengthen multilateral financing and cooperation” to allow cities to fund recovery and renewal programs. For example:
  • International organizations, development banks, and national governments could establish dedicated global funds to finance urban responses to COVID-19, to help cities and their local economic and financial recoveries
  • The European Union Solidarity Fund will cover 100% of costs incurred by Portuguese cities, associated with the fight against COVID-19
• Channel financial support to productive sectors most at need. City authorities could facilitate coordinated action across urban areas to provide “loan programmes, grants, tax incentives, and temporary rent deferrals” to businesses in need
• Introduce incentives for “sustainable production and consumption through new policies, subsidies and knowledge transfers”. E.g. grants for new clean energy strategies such as green roofs
• “Address dysfunctional and exploitative development practices such as land speculation and unserviceable sprawl”, by, for example, implementing and enforcing clear regulations and introducing taxes to increase own revenues

The ‘Building Urban Economic Resilience during and after COVID-19’[1] produced by UN-HABITAT and partners outlines the different economic recovery initiatives adopted by cities across the world. Urban areas, as “engines of growth” have been severely impacted by COVID-19 and are predicted to take a leading role in recovery. This project is focused on “strengthening the capacities of local governments globally, to design, implement, and monitor sustainable, resilient and inclusive COVID-19 economic responses, recovery, and rebuilding plans”. The document presents city case studies from the African Region, Arab Region, Asia and the Pacific Region, Europe Region, and the Latin America and the Caribbean Region. Over the next two issues of TMB, we will present city recovery initiatives from each of these regions. This case study focuses on the Europe Region and the African Region:

Europe Region[2]

Barcelona, Spain, is a city which frequently experiences “flash floods and coastal flooding, as well as heat waves and forest fires”. Prior to COVID-19, Barcelona was grappling with rapidly “growing social inequalities powered by low rental housing affordability and growing energy poverty”. Barcelona City Council have identified seven strategic economic recovery goals, including[3]:

• “New models to make Barcelona a more resilient city;
• Maintain and strengthen the city’s business network;
• Protect jobs and foster employment;
• Promote local consumption as a priority;
• Protect and relaunch the city’s international reputation;
• Open up Barcelona to talent, to investment and to visitors;
• Define transformational solutions with a metropolitan vision”

The measures through which the City Council aim to achieve the above goal include:

• Provide subsidies and funding to increase business liquidity and mitigate the damage caused to the “production network” by the pandemic (e.g. cash flow challenges)
• Establish training and advice services to enhance local skills, targeted at high-risk or vulnerable groups within the economy
• Employ strategic communication and marketing programmes to promote and regenerate tourism in the city
• Design economic development tools which will enable “synergies between the city’s socio-economic and business networks”
• Review and amend regulations and administrative processes to generate flexibility in the city’s economic reactivation

Tirana, Albania, experienced two major earthquakes in 2019 which had devastating impacts on over 2,000 homes. The city was not equipped with an emergency preparedness plan prior to the pandemic or the 2019 earthquakes, which led to the municipality relying solely on central government support and guidance during both events. The municipality is focusing on the following recovery priorities:

• Design and develop a “Crisis and Resilience Management Plan to include pandemic and earthquake response”
• Implement “Orbital Forest”, a green recovery strategy which aims to plant a “wall of 2 million trees” around the city of Tirana
• Take advantage of the opportunities resented by COVID-19 to renew and reconstruct the Kombinati neighbourhood which was most severely impacted by the 2019 earthquakes and transform it to be a “smart city neighbourhood”

African Region[4]

Arua, Uganda, is challenged by “heavy run-off water which regularly destroys crops and homes, significantly reducing agricultural production levels and housing quality”. Local government COVID-19 recovery initiatives include:

• Focus on the agricultural sector through “community sensitization” on urban farming and increasing the capacities of farmers to build and adopt new modern farming methods. This includes local government lobbying for financial and technical funding support for farmers for longer-term recovery
• Provide business development support and connect small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to targeted funding
• Provide business continuity support by “automating ICT infrastructure” and helping businesses to build their technical capacities

Harare, Zimbabwe, is faced with “rapid urbanisations, deindustrialisation and increasing numbers of people working in the informal sector, leading to urban poverty, barriers to service delivery and lagging education, health, water and sanitation, and housing systems”. The local government recovery priorities include:

• Boost recovery through the informal sector, by building “safer and more modern market spaces”
• Improve public sanitation and work to support and increase accessibility of services, particularly for women who have experienced increased gender-based violence during lockdown. The local government have partnered with UNDP, the national government and Oxfam on this initiative
• In partnership with Oxfam, the Harare city government are working to engage organised groups (e.g. women’s savings groups) to target women and employ them to support city recovery initiatives

References:

[1] https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2021/03/global-compendium-of-practices-covid-19.pdf

[2] Including selected countries in Central Asia, Western Asia, and north America

[3] https://www.barcelona.cat/reactivacioeconomica/en/action-plan

[4] Ibid 1.

Featuring a recent blog written by Abbie Winton, Alliance Manchester Business School

A recent TMB (Issue 33) discussed the gendered economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and presented the recommendations set out in the report produce by the Women and Equalities Committee entitled ‘Unequal impact? Coronavirus and the gendered economic impact’. This previous lesson explored how recovery strategies can address impacts, mitigate the reinforcement of inequalities and how renewal initiatives can transform the position of women in the labour market.

The ability to rapidly transition between jobs can support an individual or household to recover from an economic shock, such as the shock delivered by the pandemic. Occupational segregation refers to the unequal distribution of people across and within certain occupations, based on characteristics such as gender or ethnic background[1]. The pandemic has had disproportionate impacts on women’s experience of work, particularly BAME women, as they are more likely to work in low-paying and informal segregated roles, making them more vulnerable to the economic impacts of the pandemic. Therefore, gender, racial and ethnic inequalities are at risk of being reinforced, exacerbated or created[2].

This week we spotlight a recent think piece written by Abbie Winton, Alliance Manchester Business School[3], which focuses on gender and food retailing. Recognising how gender segregation is embedded in food retail roles, Abbie looks at how this can change e.g. through improving transport links to enable women to access jobs that are currently located in “hard-to-reach” areas:

Gender and food retailing[4]

Supermarket shopping of old has, perhaps, changed forever with demand for online food retailing soaring during the pandemic, growing 25.5% in 2020 compared to the 8.5% previously anticipated[5]. For most food retailers, trading online has long lacked appeal due to the low margins which it offers[6]. However, the pandemic restrictions prompted retailers to expand their dotcom (online) offering almost overnight to both meet demand and stay competitive during a time when customers were restricted in their ability to do their shopping in-store.

To meet the excess demand all of the major retailers took on additional workers, and today new roles are being created in large numbers in distribution and logistics against a backdrop of slowly dwindling numbers of workers serving on the shop floor. However, also characterising these changes are the historical patterns of gender segregation that persist within the sector, despite men moving into retail roles in recent years. Therefore, we need to be asking not just what the food retail sector is likely to look like post-pandemic, but who is likely to remain working in it.

Segregation of food retail work

The move online and growing use of self-checkouts in-store have in part helped facilitate a reduction in the need for checkout staff. These jobs have long been disproportionately filled by women who needed the ‘flexibility’ to manage work alongside caring responsibilities[7].

In contrast, there has already been an expansion of new roles in warehousing, logistics and fulfilment which have traditionally been filled by men and demand hours less likely to suit the needs of the household. For example, an analysis of recent ONS (2021) data shows that 67% of employees working on supermarket shop floors are women, a large proportion of whom are over the age of 45. This figure increases to 70% if you look at checkout and cashier roles specifically.

Female employees from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds (as defined by the ONS) are five times more likely than white male employees to be working in checkout roles. In contrast to this, the gendering of employees working in the wholesale of food production (including the supply of these goods to supermarkets) is vastly male-dominated (men continue to hold 78% of these roles). These figures show the embeddedness of gender, and racial, segregation in these roles.

Considerations for the future

Although there have been some reductions in the occupational segmentation of retail roles in recent years, changing demands mean the future of work in food retail is likely to reflect the pre-existing patterns of segregation within the sector.

To avoid exacerbating these inequalities, measures are needed to ensure women and minority groups are equipped to enter into new roles in logistics and distribution. To avoid exacerbating these gender inequalities, measures are needed to ensure women are equipped to enter into logistics and distribution; for example, employee-led flexible working arrangements. To approve accessibility to these roles, policy changes will be required, in order to prevent women and minority groups being disproportionately impacted by job loss and remove current barriers (e.g. the burden of caring responsibilities) that prevent women and minority groups from transitioning into new roles.

Research has also shown that women are more likely to rely on public transport to get to work[8] and thus tend to take jobs that are closer to home and schools. However, distribution centres tend to be located in harder-to-reach areas, making these jobs less accessible to women. Therefore, provisions would have to be made to improve transportation routes to these areas both in terms of accessibility and safety.

Secondly, the ‘pick rates’ (the rate of items ‘picked’ by an employee/hours of work[9]) which dictate dotcom work can often be challenging for disabled and older workers to sustain. Reasonable adjustments will be required where necessary to accommodate these groups. Thirdly, employee-led flexible working arrangements and parental leave could allow for an easier transition into this type of work. Therefore, policymakers and businesses should ensure that the jobs which remain do not reinforce the existing inequalities which are endemic to service work and which have been further exacerbated by the current crisis.

This blog is a short extract from an article within ‘On Digital Inequalities’, produced by Policy@Manchester[10].

Wider points for gender-equal recovery and renewal

We conclude this case study by considering the wider points for gender equality in economic recovery. Three key policy areas have been identified in a recent statement from the London School of Economics and Political Science, the International Monetary Fund, EU Central Bank, the World Trade Organisation, the United Nations and the EU Commission, to ensure that “economic recovery prioritises women and girls, underpins an inclusive future, and ensures the world is prepared to withstand the next crisis”[11]. Consider:

• How recovery stimulus, employment, and social protection programmes will “get directly into the hands of women”
• How to develop more effective public policy, e.g. approaches to close the gender data gaps as a priority and new mechanisms to “improve monitoring, evaluation and data systems”
• How to reduce the “burden of unpaid care work and support better childcare to strengthen women’s labour force participation”[12]

[1] https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100244561

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7205621/

[3] https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/abbie.winton.html

[4] https://www.alliancembs.manchester.ac.uk/original-thinking-applied/original-thinkers/gender-and-food-retailing/

[5] https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/05/uk-online-grocery-sales-lockdown-internet-coronavirus

[6] https://www.ft.com/content/b985249c-1ca1-41a8-96b5-0adcc889d57d

[7] https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a3299

[8] https://wbg.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/TRANSPORT-2019-1.pdf

[9] https://www.hcrlaw.com/blog/warehouse-pick-rates-and-disability/

[10] https://www.policy.manchester.ac.uk/publications/on-digital-inequalities/

[11] https://www.lse.ac.uk/News/News-Assets/PDFs/2021/Statement-on-Gender-Equality-2021.pdf

[12] Ibid.

Tauranga, in New Zealand, centred their 2018 city plans around four themes:

• "Improving the ability to move around the city
• Resilience and safety
• Increasing environmental standards
• Land supply (for housing and employment) and urban form"

These themes have been carried forward and underpin the council's 2021 recovery from COVID-19 plan. Tauranga's economic recovery projects and activities focus on:

• Fostering innovation, through training and courses in partnership with the University of Waikato which aims to harness and drive new opportunities for employment in Tauranga and the Western Bay
• Working with those driving the "Groundswell Festival of Innovation" to highlight local innovation and the "YiA Innovation Awards" to encourage young people towards innovative problem solving and critical thinking
• Seeking "shovel ready" infrastructure projects to generate jobs through projects which will benefit the Tauranga community socially, economically and environmentally
• Targeted investment in projects which will support small and medium-sized enterprises to recover, specifically those in the construction industry

The pandemic has accelerated the change to shopping habits, triggered economic downturn and changed how people live their lives (e.g. working from home). Evidence provided by "what works centre for local economic growth" prompts thinking as to what types of investment and interventions are likely to be most beneficial when designing recovery plans. The report considers that:

• "Supply side" investments (e.g. shop front renovations) should be supported by investments and policies that target increasing consumer demand
• Education and training to improve the skills profile of local communities can positively impact residents average wages, which will increase spending power and demand for local goods and services
• There is little evidence to support thinking that large department stores/supermarkets ("anchor stores") are of more value that other shops, meaning that balanced and equal support should be provided to protect business continuity of all shops
• Increased levels of working from home is unlikely to instigate large population shifts away from towns and cities and "proposals that are based on the assumption that housing supply and population density will change significantly should provide robust evidence to underpin those assumptions"
• Recovery and renewal proposals/plans which state that "physical or cultural regeneration initiatives will also delver economic growth" should also provide robust evidence as little evidence has shown that investment in new community assets/improved housing quality will deliver local growth

Ethnic minority-owned businesses play a vital role in the UK economy, the FSB reported that 'ethnic minority businesses (EMBs) contributed 25 billion pounds to the UK economy in 2018'. The entrepreneurial characteristics of diverse communities will be crucial for economic recovery. The impacts of the pandemic on EMBs is significant, as they account for a large number of businesses within the sectors closed during national lockdowns (retail, health and social care and hospitality). Consider:

• Invite ethnic minority business owners to discuss how best local government can support and facilitate entrepreneurship and growth post-COVID
• Targeted support programmes for ethnic minority-owned organisations and businesses that provide advice and support for applying for financial assistance, IT and tech support so that they are equipped with the skills and tools needed to recover and renew
• Create an 'inclusive matrix of support, including grants, wage subsidy and micro-loans for small ethnic minority-owned organisations, start-ups and new businesses'. Those businesses that may not have qualified for government financial support schemes introduced during the pandemic
• Go beyond the restricted lens of the 'Business Rate System' and broaden the understanding of how local economies function. This can be done by including 'all sectors, including homeworkers, night time economy, responses to local transport needs and the retail sector, to provide a comprehensive picture of local businesses and economic activity'. Use this to introduce support systems that promote sector diversity, good practice in sustainability, growth and cooperation in economic recovery

The tourism sector has been severely impacted by the measures to contain the spread of COVID-19. While measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are likely to continue (e.g. overseas travel restrictions) as restrictions ease, there may be opportunities to pivot and drive additional demand for domestic tourism. Consider:

• Create domestic tourism profiles (e.g. Tourism Research Australia) that describe who visitors are, what they want to do, and where potential opportunities lie for different destinations to target and attract new domestic visitors:
  • When creating profiles, partner with tourism agencies that have expert knowledge on the needs and priorities of different demographics
  • Make the information publicly available, so that local governments and tourism businesses can work together to plan recovery and domestic tourism marketing strategies
• Appoint a local Culture and Tourism liaison, partner with local tourist operators and businesses, and initiate targeted programmes to attract domestic tourists to local areas
• Seek funding and resources to support the re-generation or renewal of local tourism and culture businesses (e.g. heritage sites), e.g. based on knowledge gained from domestic tourism profiles, identify what businesses can do and provide guidance and financial support for them to pivot their offering to maximise their trading potential
• Partner with transport providers (e.g. train operators) and offer discounted fares to encourage domestic travel over the summer months (in line with national COVID-19 guidelines)
• Engage with large corporations and companies to explore the potential of conference style events that bring teams together, in response to the shift towards remote working
• Create promotions, packages and experiences to attract and grow holidays linked to conference-style events, or people who are looking to work remotely in a holiday location (e.g. mid-week offers)

The UN reported that Moroccan women accounted for just 21% of the country’s labour force, with 54% of those working concentrated in the informal sector (World Bank estimates 2019). The impacts of the pandemic on these trends are illustrated in a recent UK report by the Women and Equalities Committee. The report highlights that women were ‘a third more likely to be employed in sectors that were “shut down” during the first national lockdown, and thus disproportionately at risk of job loss’. The recommendations set out in this report and a UN Policy Brief prompt thinking as to how recovery strategies can address impacts, mitigate the reinforcement of inequalities and how renewal initiatives can transform the position of women in the labour market. Consider:

• Review schemes that were introduced to protect jobs and income to identify inequalities that may have been exacerbated. Integrate knowledge gained from this review into future crisis planning (e.g. integrate an ‘Equality Impact Assessment’ that will draw on evidence of existing inequalities to inform employment support schemes that may be required during future crises)
• Ensure women are equally represented in the planning and decision-making processes for recovery strategies and renewal initiatives
• Identify how the pandemic has had gendered effects on predominantly female run businesses (e.g. closures of businesses such as hairdressers), and if targeted support may be required as part of recovery planning. Repeat this for other communities/groups to identify whether they have been disproportionately impacted by the effects of COVID-19 and containment measures
• Conduct a gender analysis on recovery strategies and renewal initiatives to ensure that national and local investment plans will not create unequal outcomes for men and women, and reproduce inequalities (e.g. underrepresentation of women in sectors such as ‘science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM)’, which have been targeted for investment globally)
• As part of local and national economic regeneration programmes, ‘fund training schemes specifically aimed at women’ and other minority groups to increase ‘representation and career progression in the Digital, AI and the Green Economy sectors’
• Review policy and legislation around flexible working to ensure they reflect the positive lessons learned on remote and flexible working during the pandemic
• Actively support legislation to expand redundancy protection to protect pregnant women and new mothers
• Recognise that women are not a homogenous groups - review equalities data to ensure that large data sets consider how other factors (e.g. race, class, religion and others) combine to shape the experiences of women in the labour market

Many local/town centre businesses will be micro- and small-medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have been severely impacted by the pandemic and lack internal resources to support recovery. In Pakistan, MSMEs contribute 40% to GDP and are critical to the economy, as they are in many other countries. In developing support strategies for local businesses and MSMEs, it is important to recognise that the pandemic has changed working practices and locations, and how we shop and entertain ourselves. Small businesses may not have the resources to access the type of data that can inform them on these potential changes to consumer habits, which in turn could impact trade levels as restrictions ease and these businesses re-open. Local governments can support them by facilitating access to this information. Consider:

• Build capacity of local government staff to undertake local economic assessments and develop small town regeneration and renewal plans (e.g. train staff to conduct economic impact assessments to identify businesses that may struggle post-lockdown and strategies that will support local economy recovery)
• Engage with local businesses, MSMEs and organisations that represent them (e.g.FSB UK) to draw on their perspectives and expertise when developing recovery and renewal plans
• Identify what has gone well in previous phases of re-opening, what could be improved and the support needs of these businesses (e.g. management of queues/health and safety measures to mitigate and contain the virus)
• Provide support grants to MSMEs for business regeneration or local marketing strategies to promote local businesses
• Conduct local and regional consumer habit surveys, in partnership with neighbouring local authorities, to identify the expectations of local consumers, and their potentially changed habits
• Communicate findings rapidly to local businesses so that they are informed and can prepare/pivot their businesses appropriately
• Develop an evidence-based local economic strategy that recognises changed consumer habits and demands, in partnership with local businesses
• Provide guidance to local businesses on how to adapt and where new business opportunities may lie (renewal)
• Signpost local businesses, particularly MSMEs, to training for digital skills and to advice on finance/investment in new technologies
• Develop a mechanism whereby local government can share lessons and knowledge between each other easily to learn from each other (e.g. collaborative 'light touch' impact assessments as described in Briefing A)

People with disabilities are more likely to be unemployed or not in education or training, which makes them more vulnerable to the impacts of the pandemic, including increased risk of poverty. Recovery strategies to address the economic impacts of the pandemic should be disability-inclusive. Consider:

• Review/amend social protection systems to better protect people with disabilities during COVID-19:
  • Raise poverty thresholds to take disability-related additional costs into account
  • Revise the definition of disability in assessment procedures, to ensure they are functioning-based rather than impairment-based
  • Train volunteer community members to support the rapid identification of people with disabilities for social protection or other assistance: these community volunteers are sometimes called 'key informants' (KIs), are knowledgeable about the topic, the local area and the people who live there
• Ensure application procedures for social protection programmes and support services are accessible in the light of COVID-19 social distancing regimes:
  • Include disabled people's organisations when reviewing the accessibility of application processes and when disseminating information about support programmes
  • Adapt application and enrolment procedures to support the inclusion of people with disabilities
  • Provide disability training to programme staff and volunteers, e.g. disability awareness
  • Ensure programme information and application materials are available in a variety of accessible formats, e.g. Braille/videos/simplified text
  • Establish COVID-safe community-based registration services to bring services closer to people, and offer person/home-based assessment procedures for those with mobility limitations
• Ensure methods to deliver social protection services and welfare payments are accessible:
  • Allow welfare payments to be paid electronically or enable people with mobility difficulties to nominate a trusted individual to collect their
  • Ensure service points are physically accessible and within the person's local community
• Ensure employment schemes are adequate and accessible for people with disabilities during COVID-19:
  • Set up employment schemes to actively employ persons with disabilities, integrating such schemes into broader employment recovery schemes, e.g. green recovery
  • Make infrastructure accessible, e.g. buildings and workplaces
  • Introduce unemployment insurance to cover the informal sector, as people with disabilities, in particular women with disabilities, are more likely to be employed in the informal sector where there is an absence of job security, unemployment insurance and paid sick leave

The live music and entertainment industry has been heavily affected by the pandemic, with the majority of live events cancelled in 2020. A targeted contact tracing programme could enable the return of live entertainments events and keep the public safe, by identifying and containing a spread of the virus quickly. The contribution of the live entertainment industry to the economy is vast, and critical for GDP, generating employment and attracting tourism. Consider:

• Contact tracing as a targeted initiative to enable the return of live entertainment
• Scope costs of such an initiative and assess affordability:
  • Consider regional collaboration to lower costs
  • Seek funding or grant support, e.g. Arts Councils
• Establish and train a dedicated events contact tracing team to:
  • Provide contact tracing services
  • Develop educational materials for events companies, their employees, and customers
  • Provide on-site environmental health consulting to assist events businesses and venues in being COVID-safe
  • Support businesses in scheduling appointments at testing facilities
• Design an incentive and enforcement scheme to encourage commitment to a contact tracing programme and the implementation of COVID-19 safety measures
• Introduce an audit and certification programme to approve live events (see TMB Issue 28 for guidance on certification programmes)

Regional imbalances have created varying levels of economic impact on local economies. Areas that relied heavily on tourism and sport/music events prior to the pandemic are suffering disproportionate levels of unemployment and loss of trade. Consider a targeted local economic recovery strategy to boost tourism post-pandemic in local economies that have been hit hardest:

• Develop new tourism packages and make them appropriate for post-pandemic tourism, e.g. taking into consideration the potential need for social distancing, for vaccination passports to travel, and for meeting expectations of COVID-safe measures that tourists will have
• Recognise the opportunity to renew approaches to local tourism by adopting a community-centred tourism framework:
  • Redefine and reorientate tourism based on the rights and interests of local communities and local people
  • Involve local businesses, tourism boards and the community in developing targeted strategies to rejuvenate local tourism, that are beneficial to the whole community and geographical area
  • Create partnerships with local businesses and the local tourism board to develop a collaborative marketing plan to attract tourism
• Support local businesses in gaining core health and safety certifications by offering advice on how to gain certification and who to go to for auditing and certification awards
• Work with community voluntary groups to gain certifications such as 'Blue Flag Beach/Tidy Towns' to promote environmental and quality standards that will assist in marketing your local area to potential tourists
• Prepare a targeted marketing strategy to promote local areas when tourism returns, which communicates how the health and safety of visitors is central
• Collaborate with national tourism organisations (e.g. Visit Britain) and large holiday companies to promote domestic tourism
• Provide advice and temporary financial support (e.g. moratoriums on council tax) for local businesses directly involved in tourism (e.g. guest houses, to support their short-term financial viability)

Research shows that young people experience more long-lasting labour market impacts due to economic crises than adults, including being the first to lose jobs, working fewer hours, taking more time to secure quality income, and wage scarring where earning losses recover slowly. The International Labour Organisation reported that 17% of young people employed before the pandemic had stopped working entirely, and 42% reported reduced incomes. Additionally, it is widely reported that it is becoming increasingly difficult to source workers with the right skills in sectors where job opportunities exist. Consider developing youth employment initiatives, aimed at promoting domestic employment, skills development, capacity building and enabling equal access opportunities for vulnerable youth:

• Assess your own organisation’s operations and capacity to understand where youth employment opportunities may be protected or enhanced:
  • Recognise the contribution of people who joined your organisation as young people in entry-level roles and try to ensure that restructures do not remove roles that provide a talent pipeline into your organisation.
  • Monitor for age in any furlough and redundancy plans to ensure young people in your existing workforce are not disproportionately affected
• Map labour market information of unemployed young people such as knowledge, skills and abilities, with potential sectors of employment, including consideration for the supply and demand aspects of the labour market
  • Establish a working plan with employment services centres to support registration, profiling, referral, temporary work placements and on-the-job training
• Collaborate with local government and private and public organisations to establish sectors in which temporary employment opportunities for young people could be created e.g. public works and infrastructure maintenance (Nepal)
• Align vocational education and training aimed at up-skilling young people with employment initiatives such as apprenticeships and work experience programmes
• Provide youth-targeted wage subsidy programmes to help young people enter, re-enter or remain in the labour market by reducing costs of recruitment, retention and training
• Continue to provide careers advice in schools, colleges and universities to help young people navigate their employment options during COVID. Ensure careers advisors understand the current labour market and options open to young people so that they can provide timely advice

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues on, people around the world have been utilising black markets to purchase negative COVID-19 test results to enable them to travel. False negative COVID test certificates have been sold for around $300 USD. Systems which email test results can be easily bypassed by downloading and doctoring documents e.g. changing the date of the test, name and test result. Consider how to manage and mitigate proliferation of false negative test results:

• In Hawaii, only results from approved testing partners will be accepted, and they must be transmitted digitally, rather than using emails
• Utilising apps that centralize health and lab data and test/vaccination results e.g. CommonPass, trialled by United Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways

The SDGs, represent the world's agreed economic, social, and environmental targets for 2030, and can act as a common scorecard to ensure there are objective standards for assessing progress. Localising the ambition of the SDGs to develop local economic development strategies can help integrate social and environmental standards within local economic agendas, reduce disparities between regions, generate local business opportunities and jobs, and aim to include all marginalized communities. Consider how the SDG framework can support inclusive and diversified economic growth:

• Integrate SDG targets into on-going budget reviews process, thereby improving resource allocation and performance evaluation
• Examine the link between ongoing public policies, the SDG targets and budget expenditures
• Analyse the official indicators related to budget-planning instruments
• Partner with the private sector to launch impact investment initiatives that address the SDGs, recovery and renewal from COVID-19 and sustainable economic renewal

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

Alongside the health and environmental risks, COVID-19 has exposed the vulnerability of current economic models. Circular economies are those that produce significantly reduced waste with the aim of producing zero through sharing, reusing and recycling products and byproducts - and the circular economy is becoming increasingly relevant during COVID-19. Consider:

• Developing more 'pay for service' models that do not require people to own goods in times of financial uncertainty e.g. using launderettes rather than having the burden of owning a washing machine provides alternatives to manage consumption, either by reducing expenditure, or opting for the basic alternative. These can be designed to support social distancing and COVID-19 measures
• Redefining and classifying what is considered essential if resources are limited or strained in order to prioritise needs. The circular economy may require redefining and rethinking the importance of certain roles, tasks, products and services e.g. the shift in perceptions of those in retail or waste management have been classified as essential workers
• Focus on local supply chains. Local supply chains can be more environmentally friendly and can also be more secure. De-globalization is a clear post COVID-19 trend. World trade is expected to contract between 13% and 32% in 2020, which indicates reliance on international supply chains may be seen as riskier than sourcing products and components locally
• Incentivize businesses, big and small, to become part of the circular economy e.g. encouraging businesses to take more responsibility for providing reusable facemasks to their staff, or supporting projects which aim to clean up and protect ecosystems from plastic waste such as disposable gloves and masks

Many smaller retailers have less digital capabilities, and it is these skills which can help smaller business survive the pandemic. The loss of smaller retailers will inhibit the economic recovery at the local and national level. Consider how to encourage partnerships between larger and smaller companies to help accelerate digital transformation for small business owners:

• Offer digital solutions to support infrastructure development of small business to establish brands via mobile apps and digital menu applications for consumers. Additionally, develop simple online supply platforms for small and medium-sized business e.g. Menu in Brazil and MiMercado in Mexico
• Encourage financial inclusion through affordable financial products and services. Consideration may be given to the development of local fintech services and partnerships that extend credit to small retailers to help save businesses and make them more competitive
• Encourage collaborative platforms to share knowledge between well-established, experienced companies and vulnerable business e.g. Movimento Nós in Brazil an initiative created by eight of the main food and beverage companies in the country (Coca-Cola, Heineken, Nestlé etc.) to help 300,000 small businesses employing one million people, to get through COVID-19 and guarantee their reopening when possible. This will support the recovery of smaller supply chains and encourage customers and suppliers, which in turn will continue to have a positive impact on global supply chain recovery

In the USA, Black Communities are amongst some of the hardest finically hit communities as a result of the economic fallout from COVID-19. Recovery to date has shown to neglect women, Latino and Black Americans. Similar patterns are seen globally, with marginalised and already vulnerable groups being hit the hardest economically. Like many countries, this is a result of pervasive existing inequalities in access to income, assets, health, education, formal employment, equal opportunity, social protection, internet and public services. Consider:

• Explicitly acknowledging the heightened economic vulnerabilities of specific socioeconomic groups - and address these with targeted measures
• How to encourage broad public participation and collective action in government planning and response to effectively address existing inequalities and the needs of vulnerable populations as well as minimise elite capture and urban bias
• How policies should account for constraints faced by specific marginalized groups in terms of economic recovery such as job precarity, lack of education, low wages
• That economic recovery programmes that do not address these inequalities run the risk of reinforcing and deepening inequalities into the future which can burden economies and health systems
• Assessing funding proposals for their impact on different societal groups

Dr Marianne Sensier and Professor Fiona Devine, The University of Manchester, analyse economic resilience in UK regions and recommend additional policy measures to address the direct and indirect impacts of COVID-19.

To read this briefing in full follow the source link below to TMB Issue 23 (p.2-6).

COVID-19 is having an adverse impact on the economy amid the ongoing global climate crisis. Balancing long-term economic recovery and renewal with environmental agendas may be one way to ensure economic growth while mitigating issues such as climate change. One means of achieving this is through renewed commitment from local and national government to invest in, and develop job creation for a low carbon economy. Consider how to encourage low carbon projects including upskilling and training local people in:

• Clean electricity generation and provision of low-carbon heat for homes and businesses e.g. the manufacturing wind turbines, deploying solar PV, installing heat pumps and maintaining energy-system infrastructure
• Installing energy efficiency products ranging from insulation, lighting and control systems
• Providing low-carbon services such e.g. financial, legal and IT, and producing alternative fuels such as bioenergy and hydrogen
• Encouraging low-emission vehicles and the associated infrastructure e.g. electric vehicles, manufacturing batteries, installing electric vehicle charge-points

To inform investment decisions for the future, the Fiji Government worked with the World Bank to develop the country's first ever Climate Vulnerability Assessment (CVA) to quantify and better understand the threat posed by natural hazards and climate change and to help design climate adaptation and risk management plans. The CVA paved the way for responding to short-term needs while boosting long-term sustainability and resilience. This applies directly to the COVID-19 crisis as the CVA provides a means to assess current, and candidate interventions that could be successful for sustainable economic recovery from COVID-19. Consider how a CVA could be used to:

• Co-opt government programs related to resilience into stimulus measures e.g. national development plans, infrastructure masterplans, or resilience plans already identify interventions that can be cross-checked against a sustainability checklist to determine relevant COVID-19 interventions that address both short and long term needs
• Determine locale-specific priorities for economic stimuli that account for local risks and needs. This may include accelerating interventions that are already expected to be delivered, expanding interventions already underway, or prioritizing interventions that are cross-sectoral e.g. improving agricultural productivity, the reliability of infrastructure, or by reducing energy
• Identify additional economic stimulus, generated from various resilience-building interventions, that could be used to mitigate the economic shocks imposed by the pandemic

Assessing projected job losses and economic vulnerability as a result of COVID-19 can be supported by using digital tools informed by official national statistics. Tools such as the Kentucky COVID-19 Economic Impact Dashboard can provide information on (un)employment by tracking industries that have experienced the greatest job losses nationally. Dashboards like these point users to a single, accessible, authoritative source for information. This helps organisations to maintain situational awareness and communicate critical information. For the economy, consider using digital tools like dashboards to:

• Evaluate the needs of local economies more closely and to develop policy responses tailored to the unique needs of each locality
• Evidence the need to support and fund aspects of economic recovery that are monitored by the dashboard
• Share data with other relevant stakeholders that also see the impacts of economic vulnerability e.g. health and education sectors
• Use the data for strategic planning and staffing purposes to anticipate and meet demand for services in different regions of the state
• Provide the public and businesses with data on economic vulnerability, alongside signposting them to other relevant information e.g. transmission rates in their area, COVID-19 testing facilities

Consider:

• How digitization can facilitate capacity for longer-term economic recovery. For example, in Nigeria, Egypt, and South Africa, increased migration from cash to digital transactions has resulted in more account-to-account transfers and e-commerce sales which boosts economic activity and maintains social distancing
• The role of digital-payment platforms in increasing financial inclusion outside of traditional banking systems e.g. in Togo through cash transfers that disburse social welfare payments through mobiles
• Collaboration with banks and non-bank payments players to restructure transaction fees and limits to encourage digital payments
• Promoting easier access to digital-payment tools e.g. the Ghanaian government eased account-opening regulations

This guest briefing (written by Michael Palin, GC Consulting UK) outlines the potential economic risk to local areas before describing in broad terms how local areas might respond in terms of their economic recovery plans. A final section highlights a number of issues that have already been identified in some local areas as key economic recovery issues in their place.

Follow the source link below to read this briefing in full (p.2-10).

The city of El Paso has mapped local economic opportunities in their area to develop economic strategies that rely less on precarious work such as those in the service industries. The city has five good Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) based Universities, and aim to leverage opportunities and relationships to develop a local economic sector based on life science and technology industries. El Paso is developing programmes to upskill the local workforce (many of whom are financially unstable and in service industries) towards STEM. The strategy recognizes the profile of the current workforce and is aiming to develop training programmes in jobs such as laser welding, which is technical but does not require high levels of education. This supports long-term economic development and is linked to community welfare and financial stability.

This lesson was contributed by El Paso City Officials in the USA during project data collection.

In Colombia, local government has established an economic revival committee comprised of the Chamber of Commerce, labour unions and local stakeholders create as many jobs as possible that provide a basic wage. The idea is that in the current climate, more jobs that provide a basic wage, are more important than fewer jobs that provide high wages. Job creation will be encouraged through public and private entities in areas such as security and sanitation. More jobs providing a basic wage will maintain people's dignity and reduce poverty.

This lesson was contributed by a Chief Resilience Officer in Colombia during project data collection.

Remittances from overseas migrant workers make up more than a fifth of GDP in some economies. This type of finance is usually very resilient to natural disasters, and financial slumps as those sending money home are unlikely to follow the behavior of financial markets. However COVID-19 has meant people cannot send money as they normally would due to social distancing and bank/post office closures. This impacts the capacity to send hard cash which made up 80-85% of transaction pre-pandemic. Consider:

• Promoting the digitisation of cash transfers in local communities to support the sending and receiving of remittances as moving cash has become harder
• Giving "mobile-money" agents the status of being an essential service. These small traders serve many times more people than bank branches but struggled to stay open as governments did not deem their services "essential"

In Australia, local government are undertaking capability gap assessments to identify sectors that lack enough skilled personnel to undertake recovery projects. In New Zealand, the government is focusing on the role of the construction industry in positively impacting the economy and are implementing programmes to upskill trades people in preparation for building works. In addition, both countries are reinstating apprenticeships in vocational jobs such as construction, plumbing and electrical work to support young people, and short/long-term economic regeneration.

The local context is extremely important. The economic impacts of COVID-19 will play out locally in different ways. Consider:

• Engaging with local businesses and stakeholders regularly to understand the needs and concerns particular to the area and to inform local government's funding agenda
• Identifying projects which can be fast tracked, or are of particular concern to the local economy and need immediate funding
• Mapping of specific local industries that have been hit hard by impacts of COVID-19 such as tourism, or certain types of manufacturing as these will need attention to avoid long-term, potentially generational impacts of economic decline
• Capacity mapping of skills to develop programmes to upskill and train people in priority employment sectors - this may be industries such as construction
• How to support Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs represent around 80-90% of business in many national economies and are deeply integrated in local communities economically and socially. They provide spaces for innovation, competition and are an essential source of employment

TMB Issue 10 brings together the reflections of our learning ffrom the first 10 weeks of gathering lessons on recovery and renewal from COVID-19. Follow the source link below to read all of the reflections from our team (p.9-15)

Consider:

• Government schemes which pay young workers for employment in green industries to tackle unemployment
• Retraining older people in green industries to "leave no worker behind" in any transition towards a different economy
• Adaptation of plans for green industry by region. Some regions may be more adversely affected by job loss, for example, in areas that relied on tourism and hospitality so retrain these workers

In Hawai'i, there are plans to enhance and stimulate the economy in an equitable manner to:

• Shift the reliance on a precarious tourist industry (which offers low wages to residents, especially women) and address the social and ecological costs of tourism
• Establish an adjustment fund to support displaced workers though retraining, enabling professional mobility, and supporting social entrepreneurship
• Establish gender and racial equity programs to enhance women's access to investment capital. This should extend beyond low-wage sectors, the commercial sex industry, and male dominated industries
• Invest in subsistence living
• Encourage traditional land- and sea-based practices to maximise the ecological and food system

This may include farming and fishing sectors, tourism, conferences or industries affected by weather conditions i.e. the slowing down of construction in harsh weather. Fluctuations that were traditionally short-term may now have long-term challenges. Preparation should be made to manage change in expenses and revenues beyond the season.

Reference: Emergency Planner, Canada

By considering what should open first, what should open last and the PPE requirements of business recovery. Commuting patterns should be considered.

Reference: Chief Resilience Officer, USA and the link below

This shifts from supply and demand models to one that drives health and well-being. It does this by:

• Setting out the minimum we need to lead a good life, derived from the UN's sustainable development goals (i.e. food and clean water to a certain level of housing, sanitation, energy, education, healthcare, gender equality, income and political voice)
• Considering the ecological ceiling drawn up by earth-system scientists (i.e. avoiding damaging the climate, soils, oceans, the ozone layer, freshwater and abundant biodiversity)
• Considering where everyone's needs and that of the planet are being met

COVID-19 has challenged traditional systems and required innovative thinking about how to recover. In the Caribbean consideration is being given to harnessing the power of renewable energies.

The Caribbean is vulnerable to a number of natural disasters and so too is its energy infrastructure. COVID-19 has raised questions about the resilience of energy infrastructure if a disaster such as a cyclone were to hit the region during the pandemic and the cascading impacts of this on critical services and well-being. Renewable energy systems are capable of surviving many types of natural disaster and would provide some protection in the case of an additional emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic ( http://newenergyevents.com/coronavirus-the-caribbean-is-the-first-domino-to-fall-but-there-is-hope/ ).

In addition, the wider benefits of renewable energy have been considered for recovery in the Caribbean. The benefits include lower costs of energy, more stable energy provision, and increased independence through diversified and local energy sources which would boost the economy and help develop equitable access to power.

Consider whether to:

• Shift from central command to central orchestration. Consider the questions you should ask to anticipate and plan for the pivot from a response to a recovery-oriented position
• Monitor for signals of the economic rebound and the indicators to be tracked to provide the clearest picture of the rebound timing, and the most likely progression back to a normal economic environment
• Orchestrate and integrate cross-functional and cross enterprise. Recommended actions for companies to take during the turbulent recovery period that will be essential for long-term success
• Prepare for the "new normal". The COVID-19 crisis is likely to accelerate fundamental and structural changes that were inevitable - how can your organisation evolve to meet the challenge of the next unexpected global crisis

Local government should think strategically about how the rise in online working can revitalise the local economy and consider what services can be restarted in a more digital manner. For example, helping smaller businesses to boost their online presence or development of apps to support delivery of their products or provision of their services. This can help maintain an efficient workforce, boost the economy, and support customers and digitally connect the entire supply chain.

Reference: CEO Digital Corporation, Germany