Local economies and pandemics: Regional perspectives is an open access book published by AOSIS Scholarly Books.
The outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges to both developed and less developed local economies. The aim of the book is to uncover the best practises in responding to a pandemic from global perspectives, as well as from a trans-disciplinary point of view. Scholars from various spheres in arts, culture, education, health, environment, business and the public sector present their perspectives on the impacts, responses and consequences for local economies and communities.
As a fundamental part of LED, the arts, culture, education, health, environment, business and the public sector domains were some of the hardest hit by the pandemic. The pandemic has certainly exposed the weaknesses of current development policies and calls for new, innovative measures in developing resilient local regions. This book will form an essential part of the development series of CENLED as it offers insight into how a global pandemic (COVID-19) impacted LED in the global North and Global South and the different responses from different spheres.
Copyright (c) 2023 Marius Venter, Chané de Bruyn (Volume editor)
This book illustrates the impact of COVID-19 on the local economies of different sectors and strategies required for survival, tacked on at the micro, meso and macro levels of analysis. The research questions were answered using various research methods ranging from qualitative secondary data analysis to machine learning analysis. The book sets a foundation by reviewing the turbulent future and some common strategies that could be adopted to survive a crisis. Entrepreneurs used contemporary methods, implementation and mentoring to deal with the COVID-19 health crisis by analysing the turbulent future of entrepreneurial businesses. The authors also focus on the implications of COVID-19 on higher education and learning, recognition of prior learning and skills development, which considers the shift towards utilising technology-influenced tools and resources that undoubtedly challenge the traditional methods of developing skills post-COVID-19. The latter section of this book focuses on the overall impact on local municipalities, the economic resilience of local economies, industry analysis using the arts as a case study and investments post-COVID-19. The scholars’ findings demonstrate how the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted local economies, especially employment.
Prof. Anastacia Mamabolo, Gordon Institute of Business Science,
University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa