Economic Development Association Scotland partners with the Scottish Government to help create fairer, wealthier communities, with politicians poised to consider game-changing legislation

Work has begun to create a centre for excellence to accelerate the growth and impact of community wealth building (CWB) across Scotland.

The Economic Development Association Scotland (EDAS) has launched a new online platform as a hub to help inspire, encourage and guide greater action to create fairer, wealthier local economies.

Its Community Wealth Building Centre for Excellence has been created with support from the Scottish Government as part of a programme which will include special events, sharing of case studies and a new guide to community wealth building.

Resources will be built up over the coming months and will stand as go-to assets for local authorities, enterprise agencies, businesses and community organisations as increasing numbers embrace the economic development model.

The centre for excellence is being created after First Minister John Swinney pledged to bring forward a Community Wealth Building Bill in this parliamentary year.

It also follows a report commissioned as part of the Scottish Government’s National Strategy for Economic Transformation which concluded that a tripling of the number of inclusive and democratic businesses in Scotland would make a significant contribution to transforming the national economy.

EDAS is the foremost membership organisation for economic development professionals working across Scotland.

Chair Neil McInroy (pictured), an internationally-recognised expert in community wealth building, said: “We are at a pivotal point in the development and growth of community wealth building across Scotland, the impact of which can be transformational.

“If approved, the new legislation will help to amplify the agenda and the good work already taking place. It will put the creation of local wealth at the heart of a fairer, greener economy which benefits people, planet and place.

“This centre for excellence is just one of the means by which we can help empower organisations of all kinds to take the kind of action which ultimately puts more money in peoples’ pockets while making communities stronger and more sustainable.”

Among the measures mooted as part of any new legislation is a duty requiring Scottish ministers and prescribed public sector bodies to embed the CWB model of economic development into their corporate plans and wider strategies.

One of its benefits could be a greater emphasis on local procurement and spending.and inclusive and democratic enterprises as a means of developing the Scottish Economy.

Community wealth building puts an emphasis on how wealth is distributed within an economy - giving local people a greater stake in it.

It is a model built in five pillars.

• Inclusive ownership: developing more local and social enterprises which generate community wealth, including social enterprises, employee-owned firms and cooperatives.
• Workforce: increasing fair work and developing local labour markets which support the wellbeing of communities.
• Finance: ensuring that flows of investment and financial institutions work for local people, communities and businesses.
• Land and property: growing the social, ecological, financial and economic value that local communities gain from land and property assets.
• Spending: maximising community benefits through procurement and commissioning, developing good enterprise, fair work and shorter supply chains.

The first event in the Centre for Excellence event series will be on Plural Ownership, which will bring Scottish and international examples into the spotlight. It will take place online between 2pm and 3:15pm on Tuesday, 10 December.

McInroy added: “Our hope is that the centre for excellence will deepen the understanding, experience and conversation about all that’s happening around community wealth building in Scotland.

“This will be all grist to the mill in terms of popularising community wealth building and see it play an increasingly important part in economic development across Scotland.

“Our work over the months ahead will help people understand how they can get behind this - ultimately helping to turn the dial on poverty, inequality and the climate crisis.”

Find out more about the EDAS Community Wealth Building Centre for Excellence at www.edas.org.uk/community-wealth-building-scotland