Category: Local economy & industrie

Strengthening the Partnership between Local Cities and Tourism Industry

Posted on by erik

Tourism is one of the most affected economic sectors globally due to COVID-19, with declining numbers of visitors severely impacting local economies. There have been business closures, job losses, a rise in unsustainable alternative income sources, and the loss of government revenue from tourism. However, the dire situation has also led many tourism-dependent countries to explore new opportunities as part of the COVID-19 recovery strategy. These include new products such as eco-tourism, technology-based/ digital tourism, innovative marketing, and domestic tourism. Amidst this challenging situation and potential opportunities, there is a need to look for a strategy and projects to support the tourism industry.

We are pleased to invite you to the first workshop of the virtual series on COVID-19 and Municipal Tourism Recovery: Strengthening the partnership between Local Cities and Tourism Industry on 15th September 2021 at 16:00 – 18:00 CEST.

The event is aimed at international municipal actors from local administrations, civil society, business and academia who are working on the impacts of COVID-19 on the tourism sector and looking for innovative strategies for a post-pandemic future.

Connective Cities’ COVID-19 and Municipal Tourism Recovery will support participating urban practitioners in devising ways to help the tourism industry survive. It will provide a broad knowledge sharing and peer learning platform with like-minded municipal actors and local government policymakers who work on tourism recovery planning. Additionally, the Connective Cities Community provides access to relevant global expertise on tourism to support the planning and recovery process.

The kick-off event on September 15 offers the opportunity for several urban practitioners and the tourism industry to work on COVID-19 tourism recovery through peer learning and preparing potential proposals for soliciting funding. As a starting point, various scenarios from municipalities from five countries – Nepal, Botswana, Cape Verde, Romania, Uganda, and Cambodia – will be introduced.

Further workshops of the series are planned for the 20th of October and 16th of November 2021 (to be confirmed).

To register for the workshop and stay updated on the agenda, the announcement of speakers and further details, please visit our Connective Cities Community.

COVID-19 and Municipal Tourism Recovery Kick-Off Event:

Date: 15th of September 2021

Time: 16:00 – 18:00 CEST (Berlin Time)

Venue: Connective Cities Community (online)

Event Language: English, simultaneous translation: Arabic, Portuguese, (Romanian tbc.)

Contact: Paulina Koschmieder     paulina.koschmieder@giz.de

Research of good practices on the subject of health, business, and governance at municipal level during the COVID-19 pandemic

Posted on by erik

The report aims to explore municipal initiatives and measures taken to address health, governance, and business sector challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report is structured as follows:
The first part reviews the methodology of country identification for further investigation of good practices at national and city level.
The second, third, and fourth parts consist of good practices in the areas of health, governance, and business during the COVID-19 pandemic, including data analysis in selected countries and a brief overview of municipal practices in response to COVID-19. Good practices were selected from low and medium income countries from Africa, Asia and Southeast Europe.
In the final section, the cities’ challenges and recommendations for Connective Cities are reviewed and conclusions regarding the research findings are also presented.

Connective Cities’ COVID-19 programme 2021

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After last year’s Connective Cities event series “Municipal Response to COVID-19”, which was well received by over 750 participants from different cities and municipalities around the world, Connective Cities is again offering a comprehensive programme on COVID-19 this year. Last year, the programme focused on sharing experiences of immediate municipal measures during the pandemic – this year, the perspective will be broadened to include municipal recovery from the pandemic, also in the context of the 2030 Agenda. Instead of pure exchange formats, the second part of the Corona programme will derive proven methods from Connective Cities as well as use new approaches to promote a deeper municipal exchange of experiences. In this sense, it is planned that municipal practitioners jointly address current COVID-19-related topics in compact learning processes. The aim here is the (further) development of (project) initiatives and guidelines for municipal challenges as well as the elaboration and dissemination of existing approaches to solutions. Building on the previous momentum, challenges related to COVID-19 can thus be dealt with in greater depth and in a practical manner.

Aspects already addressed in the previous year will thus be further developed. Connective Cities will focus on the following topics in this year’s COVID-19 programme:  

  • Local economy & industry   
  • Digitalisation & communication  
  • Public health & public services
  • Crisis management 
  • Climate neutral urban development
  • Gender sensitivity in the pandemic
  • Innovation

For more information on our COVID-19 activities this year, watch our information video and visit our
COVID-19 webpage.

Space-blind strategies don’t work for COVID-19

Posted on by erik

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently analysed how cities have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Soo-Jin Kim, Head of the OECD’s Urban Policies and Reviews Unit, calls for locally-adapted solutions now and for the post-COVID era.

Since March 2020, local health authorities have often dominated the headlines. Citizens’ trust in local politicians has significantly increased. Which role have municipalities played so far in responding to the COVID 19 crisis?

Soo-Jin Kim: Since the very beginning of the pandemic, municipalities have not waited for national governments to tell them what to do – they started to act immediately. They have deployed a range of measures to inform the public about necessary measures, ensure that people comply with social distancing and lockdown rules, support the shift to tele-working and take care of the most vulnerable such as the elderly and the poor. They have also worked to keep basic public services running, including the health system, and help the local economy survive the crisis. So I would describe municipalities as ‘essential workers’.

In addition, regardless of the crisis, we should not forget that municipalities are always key public actors. Subnational governments are responsible for an average of 40 per cent of all public spending across OECD countries. In federal states such as Germany or Switzerland, it’s even 50 to 60 per cent!

Insight Sessions: Post-COVID Urban Futures

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The new event series “Insight Sessions: Post-COVID Urban Futures” is part of this year’s Connective Cities Corona programme and facilitates a regular, open exchange on relevant topics of the post-COVID-19 era for municipal practitioners and relevant experts worldwide. Different topics of sustainable urban development during and after the COVID-19 pandemic will be discussed and innovative approaches in this regard will be shared in brief and concise virtual exchange formats. The aim of these events is to provide impulses that encourage participants to reflect on their progress so far and think about innovative solutions. The open discussion rounds will take place on Wednesdays once every three weeks. 

We are pleased to invite you to the opening event and first discussion of the Insight Sessions series focusing on the topic “COVID-19 Recovery & SDG 11” on Wednesday, 28 July 2021, from 10:00 to 11:45 a.m. CEST. 

The opening event will start with a brief introduction to this year’s Connective Cities Corona programme. Subsequently, a panel discussion will explore the challenges and opportunities of the COVID-19 crisis for achieving SDG 11 towards making cities more inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. During this panel discussion, municipal practitioners and experts from different urban sectors and world regions will share their diverse perspectives and insights on this topic. The panelists (tbc) are:

  • Faola Hodaj, Director of Innovation, Municipality of Tirana, Albania
  • Karim Elgendy, Sustainable City Strategist, London UK / MENA – Recipient of the 2013 Global Green Building Entrepreneurship Award by the World Green Building Council
  • Aditya Kumar, Executive Director, NGO Development Action Group, Cape Town, South Africa
  • Hilmar von Lojewski, Councillor for Urban Planning, Building, Housing and Traffic, Association of German Cities / Cologne, Germany

 A detailed agenda of the opening event can be found here. The preliminary schedule of the series of Insight Sessions will be shared soon.  The event will take place virtually in the Connective Cities Community: 

Insight Session: COVID-19 Recovery and SDG 11 | Connective Cities Network (connective-cities.net)

Date: Wednesday, the 28th of July 2021

Time: 10:00 – 11:45 a.m. CEST 

Event language: English. Translation available in: Russian, French, Arabic. 

.

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us:

Contact: paulina.koschmieder@giz.de

New working groups in the MENA network: Municipal recovery from the pandemic

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Following the intensive knowledge-exchange program on municipal response to the pandemic that was conducted in 2020 to support the Connective Cities network in MENA, several working groups are being established to sustain the results of the peer learning activities. The working groups consist of municipal representatives and partners from the business sector, civil society, and academia. From a thematic standpoint, the topics under focus are:

  • Waste management and circular economy
  • Digitalisation for resilient cities
  • Biodiversity and environmental protection (kick-off event: August 9, 2021)
  • Crisis management in Palestinian municipalities
  • Social entrepreneurship and local economic development (kick-off event: August 12,2021)

Several meetings and preparatory activities have been conducted to formulate the road map of each working group. The core working group on ‘biodiversity and environmental protection’ has developed and submitted a concept note to the EU Call for Proposals on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Protection in Lebanon. In order to be eligible for this call, an effective consortium was established under the umbrella of Connective Cities network. The consortium members included Saint Joseph University (represented by Dr. Jocelyne Gerard and Dr. Zaarour), Green Line environmental NGO (represented by Dr. Ali Darwish), and Menjez municipality (represented by its Mayor Dr. Georges Yousef). Other potential local authorities’ beneficiaries include Beit Meri, Jezzine, Al Buhayra Union of municipalities, which will join at a later stage of the project.  

We are looking forward to include new members to these working groups. If you would like to be an active member of these working groups, please contact us at: muna.shalan@giz.de

Municipal Response to COVID-19 in Business Sector

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On 27th of May virtual workshop on Municipal Response to COVID-19 in Business Sector took place as part of the ongoing Event series “Municipal Response to COVID-19”.  It is commissioned by the GIZ project “Connective Cities – The Community of Practice for Sustainable Urban Development”.

The Workshop was dedicated to exploring municipal initiatives and measures taken to address economic and business sector challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Its aim was to review how municipalities have managed to support vulnerable businesses during this period. Moreover, the web-seminar explored innovative private-sector support schemes responding to COVID-19, outlined the actions and strategies deployed by cities to communicate with the private sector, and highlighted the importance of business recovery plans.

Approximately 40 participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Georgia, Germany, Peru and South Africa took part in the workshop.

Program

This virtual event was opened by welcoming remarks made by Dr. Piotr Żuber. Dr. Żuber provided background information of the workshop and briefly overviewed the agenda. Following the introduction, Mr. Irakli Samkharadze, Regional Coordinator, Connective Cities, GIZ, thanked all attendees for their participation and briefly introduced Connective Cities project and its objectives.

Core part of the workshop was structured according to themes and went as follows:

  1. Presentation of the best practices in terms of innovative business approaches and business recovery plans in response to the COVID-19 crisis among Connective Cities network members.
  2. Detailed cases of municipal responses to COVID-19 in the business sector from Lima (Peru) presented by Ms. Patricia Talavera, Head of Economic Development Department at Lima
  3. Cases of Cape Town (South Africa) presented by Mr. Lance Greyling, City of Cape Town’s Director for Enterprise and Investment.
  4. Q&A session following themes of presentations, during which participants actively discussed their experiences and aspects that could be useful from introduced cases.
  5. Interactive discussion panel focusing on the effectiveness of business recovery plans at municipal level during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants reviewed the role of business recovery plans at the local level and how these can ensure smoother and faster recovery in the post-pandemic era. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Giorgi Khishtovani, and panel participants were Dr. Piotr Zuber, Senior Lecturer at University of Warsaw (Poland), and Mr. Vakhtang Lomjaria, Head of Municipal Department of Economic Development, Tbilisi (Georgia).

Presentations

The main measures for Economic Reactivation
Ms. Patricia Talavera, Head of Economic Development Department, Lima, Peru

Enterprise & Investment, Support for SMME’s during COVID -19
Mr. Lance Greyling, City of Cape Town’s Director for Enterprise and Investment, Cape Town, South Africa

Methodology and Results of the Research on Covid-19 Responses
Mr. Giorgi Khishtovani, Research Director, PMCG

Results

During this online workshop representatives from multitudes of municipalities exchanged their experiences and insights on business recovery possibilities.

Participants were introduced to various already implemented recovery plans or activities from around the world. They were also given insight into some of future business recuperation possibilities and trends from around the world.  One such example, in particular plan for business support in Tbilisi, Georgia was delivered by the governmental body representative himself

Tourism in Nepal and the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Located in the Himalayas, the mountainous nation of Nepal, with a population of about 30 million, is one of the poorest countries in Asia. The country has little economic power and relies on foreign currency, which is mainly generated through tourism. The unique mountain scenery in the Himalayas, the historic cities in the Kathmandu Valley and the birthplace of Buddha in Lumbini attract millions of tourists every year. For the year 2020, which was declared the year of tourism by the Nepalese government, Nepal expected more than two million tourists – until the Corona pandemic broke out.

Within just a few weeks, the previously thriving tourism industry collapsed and over 230,000 jobs in the tourism sector were at risk. In a country where only ten percent of employees are members of social security schemes, this has serious impact on the economy and the population.

Patan (Lalitpur Metropolitan City), located in the Kathmandu Valley, whose central Durbar Square is a Unesco World Heritage Site, had to consider new strategies for the hard-hit tourism industry. While currently the country’s borders are still closed and there is no international tourism in Nepal, the city has taken steps to boost tourism in Patan in the long term and at least partially offset the loss of income in the short term.

Among other things, Patan is trying to promote domestic tourism. The historical center is of interest to locals, who can discover the city’s history, which is often unknown even to them, on guided tours.

The city is also bridging the time until international tourists can visit Nepal again with preparatory measures. For example, old, historic buildings are being renovated and local cuisine and home stays are being marketed. A night market will also be held in the center of Patan in the future. By offering a wider range of products, Patan is to become even more attractive to local and international tourists in the future.

The city is working closely with key tourism stakeholders to develop a strategy for this current transition phase.

However, the measures taken in Patan presuppose that the national borders will soon be reopened and that international tourism, especially from India and China, can resume.

Further information

Responding to COVID -19 Challenges- How Nepal’s Tourism Sector, in collaboration with the local cities, is finding its way out
Deepak Adhikary, Principal Consultant and CEO, Frontline Development Solutions, USA

Good Practice: Strategies and Actions to get Tourist back to Patan (Nepal)
Prafulla Pradhan, Advisor, Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Nepal

Event Recording (Presentations on Nepal start min. 63): Tourism Sector addressing the Pandemic – Working with Local Municipalities (Only for those registered on the Connective Cities Platform)

Contact

Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Nepal info@lmc.gov.np

Call for participants: Municipal Response to COVID-19 in the Business Sector

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Together with Policy and Management Consulting Group (PMCG), Connective Cities hereby invites municipal experts to the international exchange event – Connective Cities virtual exchange in direction of business.
What does post COVID -19 era hold for business? What potential does this have for municipalities, and how can they leverage the change?

The event is designed for the region of Southeast Europe and for international actors from municipalities and local business experts to talk about the effectiveness of business recovery plans on municipal level during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Connective Cities event will set out to facilitate an international dialogue that compares regional and municipal approaches, solutions  and good practices of quick business recovery.

Key Parts of the conference

To facilitate discussion of the broad field on a practical level, the Connective Cities dialogue event will be broken down to three specific parts:

  • Presenting methodology and results of the study on COVID-19 business responses within the Connective Cities network
  • Practitioners’ exchange – presentations of good practices in direction of business
  • Interactive panel on the effectiveness of business recovery plans on municipal level during the COVID-19 pandemic

Language of the event is English.

Further Information: Agenda [pdf]

How to take part in the conference, and who to contact

If you would like to actively participate in the event, you are cordially invited to apply for a place.

Please send us an email indicating your position and organisation. We welcome participation by up to two experts per municipality who are actively working on business recovery measures.

If you have any questions concerning the event or the process of taking part, please get in touch with us:

Elene Samukashvili, Elene.samukashvili@giz.de

‘Digital Shop Window’, Darmstadt

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The Covid-19 pandemic posed significant challenges for retailers and restaurants. During the lockdown, also small local shops in Germany had to close temporarily. In the south of Hesse, the City Darmstadt responded successfully with the “Digital Shop Window” project. Retailers and restaurateurs can offer their goods and services on the city’s central shopping platform. 

The project was already launched in 2019 with around 25 participating shops and restaurants. After the pandemic began, the German city intensified its efforts to expand the platform because interest increased significantly. Currently, over 500 local restaurants and shops are represented, and the platform registers around 700 hits per day. Interested citizens have access to the businesses’ contact details, opening hours, social media channels, and the online shop on the platform.

What led to the success of the “Digital Shop Window”? A key component was the networking of other city projects with the platform. For example, the so-called “Darmstadt City Voucher” has been integrated online. Moreover, Darmstadt offers free delivery of products.  Local events, such as an art market or the city’s wine festival, are also advertised on the website. Since the traders themselves are responsible for their contributions and data, the “Digital Shop Window” always remains up to date.  

Another success factor was that Darmstadt photographed the traders free of charge to personalise online shopping. The pictures make the “Digital Shop Window” much more personal than other online shopping sites, such as Amazon. The personalisation also increased solidarity with the traders within the population. “Digital Shop Window” will certainly have its raison d’être even after the pandemic and make local shopping attractive. 

Further Information:

Good Practice “Digitales Schaufenster” Digitised shopping windows (pdf)

Event Recording (Presentation on Darmstadt starts min. 83): The role of digitalised public services as reactions to the COVID 19-pandemic (Only for those registered on the Connective Cities Platform)

Digital Shop Window: https://www.darmstadt-citymarketing.de/digitales-schaufenster/

Contact:

Agnes Allig, City and tourism marketing
Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt Marketing GmbH
Elisabethenstraße 20-22
64283 Darmstadt
Germany
+49-(0)6151-134510
touristikmarketing@darmstadt.de