Community Wealth Building (CWB)

Community Wealth Building (CWB) is an approach to economic development. It aims to change how economies function so that:

• more wealth is directed back to local economies
• communities have more control over decision-making
• local people receive more benefits from economic development

CWB can support Scotland’s wellbeing economic objectives outlined in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET).

Anchor institutions are a key mechanism to deliver CWB. They have a huge opportunity to redirect wealth back into their local economies. This means that workers, residents and consumers would benefit more from the economic activity happening in their communities.

The actions taken by Anchor Institutions contribute to the five pillars of CWB which are:

• Plural ownership of the economy
• Making financial power work for local places
• Fair employment and just labour markets
• Progressive procurement of goods and services
• Socially productive use of land and property
  

Find out more about the 5 pillars of CWB principles

The Scottish Government has committed to supporting CWB within the current parliamentary session. The Bill will:

• build on existing good practice
• address barriers to implementation
• seek to embed the CWB approach across Scotland

View the Community Wealth Building policy on the Scottish Government website

Health impact of Community Wealth Building

We released a report on how CWB affects health in December 2024. View the health impact assessment report

The report shows that CWB can improve health in many ways and help reduce some of the main causes of health inequalities. This includes positive impacts on:

• poverty and income inequality
• wealth inequality
• access to secure employment
• working conditions
• local environments and environmental externalities
• access to spaces, facilities and amenities
• community cohesion and resilience

It can also give more people a stake in their local economy and increase their personal sense of control.

However, there could also be negative impacts. Owning and managing community assets can put increased demands on individuals and communities.

We also found that to improve population level health, CWB should be:

• implemented at scale across Scotland
• supported over a long enough time
• accompanied by other policies to reduce inequalities in income and wealth