Local government is the closest tier of government to the people, and to satisfy and provide for the communities they serve, councils need to have modern and efficient practices, and need to operate in well-functioning and effective ways.
This paper follows the journeys of three local governments from three jurisdictions as they navigated their way towards modernisation and improvement, and as they coped with challenges and crises, including COVID-19. These three examples provide a snapshot of how councils can adapt and modernise to better serve their communities.
Key Takeaways:
- Keeping the community satisfied is one of the main roles of local government
- COVID-19 and other challenges have changed much of the direction of local government planning, and have exacerbated the need for modernisation
- At the City of San Francisco, partnerships and collaborations are the key to innovation
- At the City of Port Phillip, a new council plan precipitated the need for change and improvements
- At Buckinghamshire Council, COVID-19 changed all their plans for 2020, but in the process forced the council to improve and adapt their practices
- Embedding the new practices will ensure that councils remain contemporary
