Own the future

The Covid-19 pandemic has served as a stark reminder that our economic model has failed us.

In the face of unprecedented economic challenge, we need to reset and build a new economy: one in which wellbeing stands above economic growth.

This guide aims to give much-needed substance to these ambitions. It sets out an achievable vision for the just recovery and social, democratic and economic reform of localities, led by local authorities. To do so, it uses the framework of community wealth building – a people-centred approach to local economic development that CLES and others have advanced in the UK and internationally over the last 10 years.