Localising Supply Chains in Newcastle

Originally posted as an article in Ethical Fields website: https://www.ethicalfields.com/2022/02/04/localising-supply-chains-in-newcastle-to-facilitate-local-growth/

Written by Meaghan Burkett

Localising Supply Chains in Newcastle to facilitate local growth, sustainability and resilience.

Newcastle aims to be a smart, liveable and sustainable global city. Supporting this overarching plan is the City of Newcastle’s (CN) Economic Development Strategy (EDS) 2021 with a vision to: Strengthen existing and create new economic opportunities for all in the 2020s. Their economic and community development approach reimagines the role of local government and is based on a framework called ‘New Local’. New Local is a series of ten principles to restart, renew and reboot the local economy which include: place, regeneration, connectivity, ownership, reinvestment, diversification, equity, culture, innovation and democracy. Recent events such as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and mega trends such as climate change creating extreme weather events, have highlighted a range of local economic issues and limitations. In response the City of Newcastle is exploring opportunities to increase the focus on localising supply chains to provide increased resilience and sustainability in the local economy.?

Against this background, the City of Newcastle engaged Ethical Fields, who are partnering with The Yunus Centre and ArcBlue to:?

• Analyse the Local Supply Chain Network in the local economy, including leakages and sectors with limited localised supply chains;
• Identify best practice principles for encouraging increased localisation within the local economy;
• Provide practical recommendations to increase localisation of supply chains within the local economy to increase resilience and sustainability.

We have been busy analysing and mapping local spend data, researching best practice examples from across the globe, consulting with key stakeholders and putting our heads together to create new frameworks for this leading agenda. The findings and recommended path forward will be presented to the City of Newcastle in the coming month.?

We are inspired by this initiative as supply chains are a valuable and underutilised lever for policy implementation at the local level and it seeks to find strategies to achieve the trifecta of local economic growth, sustainability (including circular supply chains) and resilience.?

Where to next?

In 2022 the City of Newcastle plan to review the findings and recommendations and determine next steps. These will support the implementation of the existing economic development strategy and will inform the development of other strategies and plans such as the Social Strategy, Sustainability Strategy and Circular Economy Plan.??

Want to learn more?

If you’re interested to learn more about localising supply chains in Newcastle or your own region, please contact Meaghan Burkett via phone on 0407 024 036 or email at?[email protected].

About Ethical Fields

Ethical Fields?partner with local councils, development agencies, business and the community across next economies, community wealth building, regenerative industrial transitions and environmental markets. We work with you to design and scale interventions that foster local autonomy, resilience and prosperity; build local and regenerative industries and transform the investment and capital logic to enable local people & places to thrive. Our team offer creative solutions and breakthrough strategies that catalyse action while remaining practical and tangible. We have a number of resources and programs that build better local economies:

• Localising Supply Chains Program – supply chain research, analysis, consultation with key stakeholders and strategic planning to enable best practice and evidence-led decision-making
• Community Wealth Building Local Engagement and Strategic Planning Program – capability building and strategic planning with key stakeholders in your region to inform the development of a community wealth building plan for your region
• Regional Impact Funds and Mutual Fund Program – a co-design process with local councils to create an investment vehicle that prioritise local place and people. EOIs open for Phase 1 Proof of Concept?
• Course – Introduction to Community Wealth Building for Council
• Course – Introduction to Community Wealth Building (for all stakeholders)
• Community Wealth Building Scan – initial scan of your region
• Community Wealth Building Regional Leadership Program – capability building and mentoring for a local group of stakeholders to implement community wealth building in their region including council, business and community