Within the EcoRIS3 project, the Atlantic Cities’ mission is to identify the GPs of its members facing the Covid pandemic and share these with the other partners of the project as well as with potential stakeholders. Atlantic Cities, in its report "How cities outside the partnership adapted to Covid-19", presents the main GPs in terms of recovery of some of its member cities.
In this framework, Atlantic Cities presents in more detail the main GPs of the Portuguese cities of Viana do Castelo, Lisbon and Faro.
Regarding the city of Viana do Castelo, since 2020, several economic measures have been implemented to combat COVID. The Council has implemented a wide range of mitigation and incremental actions for the various sectors of economic activity to boost activities and guarantee income for economic agents, employees, and families.
A relevant initiative undertaken by the Council was the creation of the portal “Work In Viana”. This platform was launched in 2022 and provides information about companies, job opportunities, as well as news and information about schools, courses and training in the city. It also provides data for the analysis of employment success rates in the city.
The “Work in Viana” platform emerges from the strength which the digital transition has gained during the pandemic, taking advantage of the technological resources to generate services closer to the citizens, therefore investing in its growth is vital for a digital and inclusive growth of Viana do Castelo.
The measures adopted by the Council to reduce pandemic crisis effects on the community persist due to constraints imposed by Portugal and Europe. The economical supports provided to the municipality families aim for the well-being and to ensure the economic sustainability and viability of the local businesses due to the critical period we are facing.
The acceptance of the measure “+ Viana à Esplanada” has triggered a new set of infrastructures and resources that modify the shape of the public space and the way that people interact with the city taking more advantage of the open-air space.
This new paradigm has triggered a better use of the public space with the opening of new terraces and coffee shops, bakeries and restaurants, and also new horizons to the local business and interaction of the population with it.
For more information about the good practices of Viana do Castelo, please contact Mr Tiago Rego by e-mail at [email protected].
Concerning the city of Lisbon, the City Council has carried out several exceptional economic and social measures, since 2020, to be able to respond on time to the covid crisis.
At the beginning of the pandemic, the Council, in partnership with Zask, launched the portal "Mercado Made of Lisboa” to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the municipality. The pandemic has forced companies to adapt to the new reality and face current challenges like digital transformation or realigning business models, among many other subjects.
The “Mercado Made of Lisboa” initiative had the mission to connect companies looking for such solutions and startups capable of answering them and finding new sources of business. This portal was suspended and limited to the pandemic's acute and initial period.
The Council also promoted the “Lisboa Empreende +” (LE+) programme to support the entrepreneurial fabric of the city of Lisbon and support the emergence of new businesses.
The LE+ offers, free of charge, together with a wide group of partners, specialised support to help companies to reinforce internal competencies at the management level (e.g. staff resources, digitalisation, communication, marketing, operational areas, etc.) to get through the current crisis and start preparing the economic recovery in the post-COVID period. More information from the LE+ programme is available here.
For additional information on Lisbon City's good practices, please contact Ms Vanda Dinis by e-mail at [email protected].
Regarding the city of Faro, since 2020, the City Council has also created a set of exceptional support measures to be able to respond on time to the various requests from local and national authorities and to contain the economic and social damage that the crisis imposed on the municipality, its families, companies, and associative movement.
For information about best practices in Faro, please contact Ms Cristina Viegas by e-mail at [email protected].
In conclusion, Atlantic Cities found that the cities of Viana do Castelo, Lisbon and Faro are exceptional examples of mitigation and adaptation to the global health and economic crisis. These cities are success cases in terms of adaptation of the Atlantic Arc Cities to Covid. These cities have undoubtedly worked to become more pleasant, safer, greener, and more resilient.
