Building stronger local economies

This guide seeks to bridge the gap between policymakers and those delivering services on the ground, explaining and expanding on key terms and ideas and providing tangible examples of how they can be applied to Wales and its communities.

Covid-19 and the climate crisis are two defining challenges of this generation. There is a consensus that fundamental changes need to be made to the way our economy and society works so that we prioritise well-being, resilience and sustainability. In order do this, we need to rebalance our economy, so that citizens and communities have more power, wealth and control to solve the challenges facing us. Many people describe this re-balancing process as building community wealth.

For this to happen, effective policy development, community organisation and political intervention are necessary. Across different sectors and in different parts of Wales, communities and policymakers have had different experiences, face different barriers, and come up with different but complementary solutions. These provide us with opportunities to learn and to find best practice, to ensure that the most effective interventions and policies are implemented across the country.

We have seen several policy shifts at the local level, at the Wales-level and at the UK-level in recent years towards building an economy that prioritises well-being and resilience. Legislation like the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, policy focus on Social Partnership and the development of important new institutions like the Public Service Boards, as well as key new funding opportunities like the Shared Prosperity Fund and Community Renewal Fund, means that it is essential everyone in Wales can access support to understand and develop these new terms and ideas.