Leicester’s
Build Back Better Campaign Teams at DMU and Leicester City Council are asking the public to come up with ideas on how Leicester can ‘build back better’ amidst the coronavirus pandemic WORDS BY KERRY SMITH
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ore than 70 academic experts have been assessing the impact of coronavirus upon Leicester. They’ve been brought together by De Montfort University, which is working in partnership with Leicester City Council to identify issues related to the pandemic. They’re combining their efforts to co-create sustainable solutions in an effort to Build Back Better in Leicester. The pandemic has caused widespread disruption to public organisations, businesses, communities, and families. As the city never truly emerged from the first local lockdown of its kind this year in the UK, there has been an impatient yearning from Leicester organisations to intervene in the city’s future. Leicester’s Build Back Better campaign, run by the public engagement team at DMU, is leading the way in generating ideas for development in the city. They’ve set about discovering what challenges different groups of people have faced in life under lockdown by reaching out to communities and members of the public to ask about individual experiences of the pandemic. The academic experts – from diverse fields such as the arts, economics, technology, healthcare, and others – have consulted alongside DMU with more than 40 community groups and organisations, hearing from neighbourhoods 20 | NICHE
how the pandemic has affected residents, businesses, schools and more. So far, the work of the organisations involved has generated a lengthy list of ideas to build back better and discussions, surveys and interviews have been conducted to discover ways to prevent any organisation or community from being ‘left behind’ as a result of lockdown. There has been a list of more than 250 ideas to revamp the city. The list includes action points to introduce nature to city streets, raise money, and tackle poverty. Meetings and consultations continue to take place for idea generation and community insight. An ongoing series of #BuildBackBetter webinars focused on a variety of aspects are available to book on to. On its BBB Youth Welfare event series, which continues throughout November, the DMU website says: ‘If you care about how government, community and business can best work together so nobody is left behind, then we’re sure you’ll find plenty of food for thought and discussion here.’ The academics and researchers at DMU continue to develop and discover new ideas to Build Back Better in Leicester. If you would like to take part in the community consultations please email local@dmu.ac.uk for the details of upcoming sessions.