Toolkits and templates for cities – Resources to support internal transformation

These materials have been developed by public institutions, research bodies and local government networks and are particularly relevant for cities that are:

• introducing or scaling internal hybrid-work models within municipal administrations,
• designing services and governance frameworks for remote workers and digital nomads, or
• strengthening organisational capacity, leadership and digital skills to support new ways of working.

Rather than prescribing solutions, these resources help cities diagnose readiness, test policies, manage change and institutionalise learning – mirroring the Remote-IT approach.

Core public-administration telework and hybrid-work resources:

• Council of Europe – Toolkit on teleworking in public administrations (2020)[1]
  Developed by the Centre of Expertise for Good Governance, this toolkit offers model telework policies, individual telework agreements, assessment templates, risk checklists and guidance on organisational change and social dialogue. It is particularly useful for cities formalising hybrid-work rules for the first time.
• Eurofound – Hybrid work in Europe: concept and practice (2023)[2]
  While analytical in nature, this publication includes highly practical typologies of hybrid-work models, implementation considerations and examples from public organisations that municipalities can adapt when designing their own arrangements.
• OECD – More resilient public administrations after COVID-19: Lessons from using the CAF 2020 (2023)[3]
  This resource uses the Common Assessment Framework (CAF) to illustrate how public organisations assessed and improved leadership, people management, processes and digitalisation after the pandemic. The CAF self-assessment logic can be reused by cities as a readiness and monitoring tool for hybrid work.
• EUPAN / Austrian Presidency – New way of working in public administration (2018)[4]
  A pan-European overview of flexible work in public administration, including survey instruments, implementation lessons and checklists addressing legal, HR and organisational aspects relevant to local authorities.
• Ministry of Justice, Public Administration and Digital Transformation (Croatia) – Remote and hybrid work in Croatia and selected EU Member States (2024)[5]
  A comparative report summarising regulatory frameworks, eligibility criteria, decision-making procedures and reimbursement rules across several EU countries, including Belgium, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Slovenia and Spain. It also documents Croatia’s SmartWorking model, offering a concrete reference for cities drafting their own internal rules.
   

Health, safety and employee well-being:

• EU-OSHA – Teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic: risks and prevention strategies (2021)[6]
  Evidence-based guidance analysing ergonomic, psychosocial and organisational risks of remote work, supported by structured risk categories, policy frameworks and concrete organisational examples. Cities can draw on this guidance to design occupational health procedures, internal policies and staff self-assessment tools.
• EU-OSHA – Resources on telework and home-based work[7]
  OSHwiki - a collaborative online encyclopaedia of reliable information on occupational safety and health (OSH).
   

Leadership, organisational culture and HR transformation:

• People in Government Lab, University of Oxford – Addressing challenges to remote and hybrid working in public organisations (2022)[8]
  Based on surveys and comparative case evidence, this report offers concrete, practice-oriented recommendations for public-sector leaders, combining guidance on trust-based management, communication and performance in hybrid teams with policy and regulatory measures to support sustainable remote and hybrid working.

• Local Government Staff Commission (Northern Ireland) – Performance Culture Toolkit[9]
  Although not specific to hybrid work, this toolkit provides diagnostics and templates for shifting from presence-based to results-based management, a transition that many Remote-IT cities identified as essential for making hybrid work operational, accountable, and sustainable within local administrations. 

   

Digital skills and broader public-sector transformation:

• OECD – Framework for digital talent and skills in the public sector (2024)[10]
  A structured framework with self-assessment questions addressing digital skills, leadership and organisational culture. It supports cities in situating hybrid work within broader digital-transformation strategies and modern ways of working in the public sector.
• OECD – The future of remote work: opportunities and policy options for Trentino (2021)[11]
  A regional-level study that combines policy options, governance approaches and implementation examples, offering transferable insights for cities and regions linking remote work to territorial development and administrative reform.