The city of Nice is launching a communication campaign in support of local merchants hit hard by the Covid19 crisis.
Tag: local economy
Bristol – #BristolFoodKind
Launched by the city partners behind Bristol’s bid to become a Gold Sustainable Food City, the #BristolFoodKind campaign offers practical ideas for people at home during the pandemic on how to grow and cook food, reduce waste and shop locally. Every act of ‘food kindness’ can help improve health and wellbeing, support the community and secure the future of Bristol’s food scene. Residents are encouraged to get involved by sharing their stories on social media. Read more about #BristolFoodKind here
Contact: Paul Davies
Angers – supporting local commerce
A new online platform, officially launched during the lockdown, aims support local businesses through this crisis and beyond, by providing them with a more traditional and local version of Amazon. With 120 businesses already signed up, 200 waiting in the wings, and 20,000 products already available, it has already proved a success. Read more here
Contact: Bruno Gourdon
Lille – 32 millions to support local economy
Lille Metropole is injecting about 32 millions, in the form of different support systems, into its local economy. The “Rebound Fund” will allocate €20 million to small businesses, such as shopkeepers, craftsman, and farmers, who will have to pledge in favour of their ecological or energy transition to benefit from the fund. A new facility dedicated to small companies or associations with less than ten employees has been created; it will provide loans up to €6.6 million that can be payed back over a 3 to 5 years period. Another €5 million will be managed by a new dedicated local economy department supporting and promoting the metropolis’ local and social economy, as well as the tourism and events sectors. Read the full plan here (in French)
Contact: Christophe Bolot
Nice – Investing in local businesses
Over 2,500 Small businesses in Nice have benefited from support for rent payments via a scheme of the metropole Nice Côte d’Azur. This measure has just been extended to the tourist accommodation and culture sectors. Read more here
Contact: Jérôme Sieurin
Braga – Support for restaurants
In a bid to bring viability back to the hard hit restaurant sector, the Braga City Council is allowing restaurants and cafes to extend their activities to adjacent streets and squares. By relaxing protocols for the rest of 2020, these establishments have more free reign to install items such as an open terrace, outdoor ice cream machines and awning, while respecting rules for physical distance. Read more here and here
Contact: Nuno Gouveia
Amsterdam – Money for the arts
The municipality of Amsterdam will plough an additional €17 million into support for local arts over the next couple of months. The plan aims to ensure that key institutions within the cultural and creative sector can mitigate the effects of the crisis. Read more here
Contact: Julia Robeer
Bologna – Task force assesses impact on culture
As Italy moves into the phase two, the job of the task force, which conducts interviews and questionnaires to understand the impact of measures, is becoming ever more important. Read more here
Contact: Francesca Martinese
Haarlem – Coupons for help
With the platform “Help the Horeca”, catering partners collaborate with online platform Gifty to support catering entrepreneurs during this difficult corona. These coupons help entrepreneurs earn income, even now that they are closed. Consumers can redeem the coupons as soon as the cafes and restaurants in Haarlem open their doors again. Read more here (in Dutch)
Guimaraes – Overview of measures
The Municipality of Guimaraes has instituted a series of measures from housing for homeless people to providing tablets for students to enable distance learning and offering support for tourism focussed micro-enterprises. Read more here
Contact: Crisalia Alves
Dusseldorf – Path to recovery
With most shops, the first museums and libraries, as well as playgrounds now open again, the City of Dusseldorf sharing posters and digital information about the new rules. Read more here here and here.
Contact: Stefanie Nietfeld
Guimaraes – Clarification for businesses
The Municipality of Guimaraes held the first in a planned series of video conferences to explain and receive feedback on measures taken to support businesses. Read more here
Nice – Local shopping online
Created in partnership with the start-up Whishibam, the city of Nice is today launching a virtual trading platform, which will enable registered Nice merchants to easily sell their products and sell off their stock, generate immediate cash flow and benefit from a new showcase throughout the year. The launch of this virtual trade site in Nice complements other measures to support local economic actors and traders. Visit the website here
Contact: Ivo Banek
Katowice – Remote services database
Katowice City Hall has created an online database of those companies that can offer online services, such as fitness classes or offering financial and legal advice. Read more here
Contact: Judyta Etmanska
Cologne – Innovation database
The city of Cologne has created a database of best practices from local companies that have found innovative and creative solutions to deal with the present circumstances. This includes, for example, digital window-shopping or selling vouchers for favourite individual stores or pubs around the corner. Read more here
Contact: Uwe Korch
Katowice – Business and NGO assistance packages
A new package of measures, worth 25 million PLN, exempts businesses from things like property tax, rubbish collection charges and rent in municipal buildings. Similar measures are being put in place for NGOs, as well as offering additional assistance for activities to control the coronavirus, and co-financing options for some labour costs. Read more here and here
Contact: Judyta Etmanska
Barcelona – Economic response
Barcelona’s city council is creating an initial pot of €25 million to support the city’s economic sectors in their recovery. Additionally; the deadline for paying most municipal taxes has been extended. Read more here here and here
Contact: Marta Puchal
Edinburgh – Delivering grants
The city council designated 100 officers to process and deliver grants offered to business owners, which compound a total of £20m. This endeavour is set to help the local economy and those in need are still encouraged to apply. Read more here
Contact: Karen Lloyd
Edinburgh – The tourism side of recovery
Responsible and sustainable tourism remains a priority on the economic response to the pandemic, key actors and the city council agreed. Actions to tackle priority areas will be established in coordination with stakeholders, while the long-term strategy remains crucial for the local economy. New roundtable with the economic agents to define specific measures in the coming weeks. Read more here
Contact: Karen Lloyd
Karlsruhe – Local support
Karlsruhe has set up the platform #supportyourlocals enabling people to shop locally. Deliveries are done by bike or, for longer distances, by post. While keeping business alive, the UNESCO City of Media Arts offers a digital cultural programme to keep people engaged, as well as the ZKM Center of Media Arts, and numerous museums and galleries. Read more here and here (in German)
Contact: Regina Hartig
Brest – Staying with locals
Brest metropolis and its local partners have created a support system to sustain the local economy. This system relies on several actions:
Lyon – Farmers and consumers coming together
Lyon Métropole has launched a distribution tool for the 350 farms on the territory. With food markets closed, agriculture producers have been mapped and offer their products via digital platforms. Customers receive the food at grocery stores nearby. Thus, citizens can support the local producers while having a healthy diet. You can read more about this and other initiatives in the city overview.
Contact: Adrien Alberni
Osmangazi – Rent relief for local businesses
Small and medium enterprises and local shops in buildings owned by the Osmangazi Municipality can pay their rent later. The city council has decided to defer its receivables from its approximately 800 renters that pay their rents or occupancy taxes monthly. This decision, combined with other economic measures put in place by the local authorities, aims to relief the struggle entrepreneurs and businesses are going through in the corona crisis. Read more here (in Turkish)
Contact: Şenol Dülger
Fuenlabrada – Who’s delivering?
Fuenlabrada has put together a directory listing all local small companies that offer food and other services delivery. Read more here (in Spanish)
Contact: Juan Carlos Hernández Navas
Milan – A locker system for your shopping
The municipality asked supermarkets’ chains to install new lockers to be used for the collection of online grocery shopping. Customers can order their groceries online, then collect them avoiding queues and limiting contact with other people since their shopping will be waiting, at a specific time, in an assigned locker which only the customer can access with his/her membership card. Read more here (in Italian)
Contact: Olimpia Vaccarino Aureli
Sofia – Help for local companies
In order to tackle the economic problems coming with the COVID-19 crisis, Sofia has set up a temporary economic council to elaborate measures to support local businesses. The proposed ideas include suspension and exemption of local taxes, municipal bank guarantees for small and medium enterprises for up to 50% of the loan, introduction of new e-services and free parking zones. The measures will be proposed to the municipal council for approval. An analytical report entitled “Assessment of COVID-19 effect on Sofia economy” outlining the three most likely scenarios was published. You can download the report here (in Bulgarian)
Contact: Sevdalina Voynova
Ghent – Website for local retail
The city of Ghent is urging residents to help keep local businesses afloat by buying locally and has gathered together all other existing initiatives to create a portal to takeaways and local places to purchase food online. Read more here
Contact: Els Uytterhoeven
Gijon – Support to small shops
Gijon has launched a campaign to support the small grocery shops in the city during the confinement period, which are allowed to continue operating despite the general closure of businesses. The campaign informs citizens of the city’s retail stores as an alternative or complement to purchases in wholesale establishments, supermarkets or hypermarkets. The city also indicates which of these businesses deliver at home.
Currently 127 small grocery shops have joined the campaign. Read more (in French) here.
Contact: Enrique Rodríguez