Rising to the challenge together

“As the county, the country and the world start to emerge from the pandemic we will need to tackle its legacies and show everyone that jointly we have a way forward.” - Andrew Proctor, Leader of Norfolk County Council

On 2 July 2021, around 100 of Norfolk’s sector leaders and influencers came together to look at how we can rebuild and revitalise our County at “Rising to the Challenge Together”. Watch the Rising to the challenge together video.

Objectives:

• recognise the incredible efforts of partners and communities, working together, in the pandemic response
• draw on their expert knowledge and provide thought leadership around the impact of Covid-19 on Norfolk and the opportunities for long-term economic and social recovery
• create a catalyst to agree early actions on how we might use what we have learnt to ‘build back better’ and continue to work together to meet these ambitions.

The Summit identified the following priorities for action as we move beyond the pandemic:

• Strong, engaged communities - Collaborate and involve communities in rebuilding and revitalising the County
• Inclusive economic recovery - Build back better Norfolk’s economy
• Young people - Help young people to flourish with access to support and opportunities
• Prevention and early help - Shift to an integrated approach to prevention
• Digital access - Increase access to good connectivity and digital skills
• Green growth - Accelerate delivery of a cleaner, greener Norfolk

And the mechanisms to delivering these:

• Data sharing and joint evidence-base
• Cross-sector collaboration
• System pathways and navigation
• Innovation and technology
• Locally led
• Collective ambitions and resources

Central to the Summit were three panel sessions which focused on a series of recovery 'mission' topics which have emerged locally and nationally as priorities. 

a) An Inclusive, sustainable recovery

Covid-19 has had an unprecedented and significant effect on the UK economy and here in Norfolk. We know that many of our people and businesses face difficult times and uncertainty. Our education, jobs, and livelihoods have been impacted and we have seen the disproportionate impact Covid-19 has had on different communities, exacerbating existing inequalities.

This session provided an opportunity to explore how we can build forward the economy to be more inclusive and sustainable, whilst boosting entrepreneurialism and productivity with the innovations seen during the pandemic.

Panel Themes & Priorities

• Increasing skills & wages
• Effective pathways from education to work
• Investment in physical & social infrastructure
• Digital access & rural connectivity
• Green recovery & growth
• Increasing productivity through innovation & technology
• Fairer recovery with support to the most affected communities & sectors

b) Children and young people

The Covid-19 pandemic has had an immeasurable impact on all of us, but it has become apparent that children and young people will carry a heavy burden from the impact of the pandemic in terms of their mental and emotional wellbeing, education, training and employment pathways.

We need to respond to the immediate challenges to children, young people and their families if we are to avoid long-term damage to their prospects. This session was an opportunity to look at how we can place children and young people at the heart of our plans to 'build back better' and help them to flourish.

Panel Themes & Priorities

• Build back better & fairer not 'back to normal' Recognise the different experiences from the pandemic Help for those who have lost opportunities
• Mental health & wellbeing support
• Digital access & inequalities
• Support for transition points in education and into work
• Early intervention & prevention to tackle the root causes of inequalities

c) Stronger, fairer communities

During this challenging time, we have seen great strengths and opportunities come from our communities. All over the county, people have stepped up to help those in need and look out for their family, friends and neighbours.

Public sector and community services have worked more closely together than ever before to find ways to continue supporting those that rely on them, thinking innovatively through the challenges. We have seen how communities have a wealth of knowledge and assets within them.

This session considered how to deepen these relationships and make them sustainable to strengthen resilience and enable prevention-focused approaches.

Panel Themes & Priorities

• Collaborative culture change
• Community voices & perspectives; listening & engaging
• Sharing capacity with the community
• Integrated, holistic approaches to prevention & inequalities
• Data sharing & targeted, evidence-led approaches Infrastructure & access to technology to connect to communities

The outputs from the event will inform Norfolk County Council’s strategic planning.

In the spirit of collaboration, we also asked all those who took part in the event, as panellists or delegates, to take ownership of outputs relevant to their organisation and to drive follow-up activity.

Finally, the Council has committed to host follow up events to continue this important conversation and to provide the environment for actions to happen.