Initially , the concept was developed to connect volunteers from the community with local charities in a way that was not onerous for charities , many of whom were experiencing increased demand at the outset of the pandemic . Furthermore , the app was designed to encourage ongoing civic participation and engagement in a new COVID environment . The app was launched during the first week of June in 2020 .
The Lean in Newy concept originated in the City of Newcastle ’ s award-winning Smart City Strategy but with a focus on Environmental Sustainability objectives . The shift to enabling civic participation during a local health and economic crisis was a pivot delivered during COVID-19 in partnership with GreenBe .
Outcomes : Overall , there were 110 challenges launched in 2020 . The challenges were delivered through five key categories :
• Ready to Help : a series of enabling challenges .
• Pitch In : challenges structured around supporting the broader community , such as formal volunteering opportunities with pre-vetted community groups , not-forprofits and NGOs ;
• Help Out : challenges aimed at encouraging people to provide assistance to those in need within their local neighbourhoods ;
• Stay Connected : challenges that are designed to encourage and nurture community interaction , creativity and wellbeing ; and
• Shop Local : challenges that incentivise participants to support their local small businesses .
Over 5,000 challenges were completed in 2020 , with rewards / redemptions available at over 60 participating local businesses . The app registered over 2,500 users , which was above the short-term target of 2,000 , but short of the long-term ( 12 month ) target of 10,000 users . The app is a first of its kind for Australia , and the results of the evaluation suggest that there is considerable potential for the app to be used beyond Newcastle to address further impacts on communities and business as the pandemic continues .
Figure 1 : Lean in Newy logo
Figure 2 : Lean in Newy home screen
LEARNINGS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONERS : The Lean in Newy app demonstrates the importance of timing in the implementation of economic development initiatives . At the onset of COVID-19 in Australia in mid-March , there was a large groundswell of community goodwill – people wanted to contribute and help their neighbour . The Lean in Newy app could have provided a platform that would have enabled positive community development outcomes . However , the transformation of the existing product into the full Lean-In Newy functionality took two months to complete , which is still a significantly shorter timeframe than usual development processes . By the time the app launched in June , the depth of the local crisis had abated , and people ’ s desire to contribute locally had fatigued . Both Council and the external evaluation hypothesise that if the Lean in Newy app had been available in early-mid April , the take-up of the app may have been stronger .
ONLINE TRAINING FOR SMALL BUSINESS
Overview : The aim of the Local Online Training Program was to support local small business (< 20 employees ) to undertake upskilling and professional development training . This Resilience Package program was delivered through the provision of funding to local accredited Registered Training Organisations to deliver courses on topics such as business agility , business innovation and digital transformation . Council staff were influenced by early national media reporting that suggested the lockdown and the fallout from the pandemic ( under and unemployment ) would offer significant downtime that could be used toward participation in training and upskilling . An EOI was initially developed and sent to local RTOs in early April . Following assessment , The University of Newcastle , Novaskill and TAFE NSW were awarded contracts to deliver online training programs , with funding provided to the value of $ 300,000 ( approximately ). Originally , it was anticipated that this funding would provide training for 560 students .
Outcomes : As part of the evaluation process , both quantitative and qualitative data was sought from the RTOs , including interviews with the program managers . As the programs were still being completed , no interviews have been conducted with individual students .
“ I thought it was great that it was a local government initiative that enabled local RTOs to reach out to the local business community .” – RTO Program Manager
Uptake across the board was significantly lower than expectations . As stated above , originally it was envisaged that up to 560 students could potentially participate in training , however the total number of enrolments across all three RTOs only reached approximately 150 students . Some of the identified barriers included difficulties accessing and using the online offering , students being overwhelmed by course
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT JOURNAL VOL 14 NO 2 2021 23