I spoke at New Local’s No Going Back session on this subject. As we continue to navigate the uncertainty of how the pandemic will evolve, it becomes ever more challenging to know what we should recover from before the pandemic — like physical connection, being able to see our family and friends or travel abroad — what we maintain from the changes we’ve had to make as a result of the crisis — like pedestrianising our streets, buying local or better valuing our frontline workers — or what we leave behind from before the pandemic — driving into work, deep inequalities — and what we need to invest for the future.
We can look to the past to see how civilisations have tackled the longer-term impacts of similar crises. For instance, the Black Death may have helped end serfdom and feudalism before the Enlightenment. Cholera outbreaks accelerated the need for sewerage systems and public health. World War 2 brought women into the workforce much more significantly than before. These historical examples can provide insights into the potential long-term impacts of the current crisis.
However, we’ve also got deep-rooted changes that pre-exist the pandemic, particularly the structural inequalities that have become more visible than ever, the polarisation between different communities and neighbourhoods or the precariousness of many people’s livelihoods. There are also emerging trends, like how the ability to use technology and the increase in people moving around to work and live could affect how they look after themselves and each other. The change in family, friendship and work structures could affect how and where people live and work, affecting our design infrastructure.
Time is of the essence. Prolonged uncertainty is not a luxury we can afford. The longer we remain in this state, the more businesses will struggle to generate income, charities will find it difficult to fundraise, and public services will face challenges in raising taxes. More people will be pushed into financial hardship, unemployment, or even risk homelessness. The toll on physical and mental health is already significant. Immediate action is needed to address these pressing issues.
Local authorities, as the primary governing bodies at the local level, have a crucial role to play in supporting businesses and the voluntary sector during these challenging times. They have provided a range of financial support to keep them going, be it through loans, rate or rent relief or grants. Some councils themselves have needed emergency financial support to avoid them going bankrupt.
How do we balance the support for organisations and businesses to reinvent themselves to the new future?
Now more than ever, collaboration is critical. Local councils are joining forces with charities to explore opportunities for shared workspaces, mutual use of digital tools, and pooling of expertise and volunteers. Similarly, councils are partnering with businesses to adapt to the new normal, whether it’s through strategic shifts or localised online platforms for selling goods. This spirit of collaboration underscores our shared responsibilityin navigating these uncertain times.
These are relatively short-term ways to adapt to a changing world we can’t predict. For the long term, we can look to:
- Invest in working with local organisations to adopt agile and decentralised approaches to adapting to changing trends, such as the Local Digital Collaboration Fund, CAST, or the GLA’s Adaptive High Streets work.
- Use foresight better to adapt & flex services to scenarios — such as anticipating exit/s from lockdown, future local outbreaks and different Brexit deals, and support to stress test policies to changes in government direction, like around community support, food provision or Brexit.
- Mobilise whole local areas around big missions to pool resources and focus the purpose of organisations, like the London Recovery Board, the GLA’s Future Neighbourhoods, or Greater Manchester’s Industrial Strategy.
- Can we create platforms to better attract and localise investment into our places, building more incredible community wealth and reducing dependency on central government austerity, like Barking & Dagenham’s Endowment Fund, Preston, or Newham’s Community Wealth Building agendas?
- Can we create spaces and communities to identify changemakers in our communities, help them navigate those changes and make difficult choices, and imagine different futures together, like U Lab, the National Lottery’s Scanning & Sensing Network, or the UNDP Portfolio approach?
