Across Scotland, people are quietly transforming their local economies. They’re running bus services, opening community spaces, regenerating town centres and creating jobs. Whether they use the term or not, these communities are practicing Community Wealth Building in real time.

Community-led organisations – the part of the third sector owned and led by local people – are established leaders of Community Wealth Building (CWB). Their work already shapes fairer, more resilient local places at a time when many communities feel increasingly fragile.

You see this in communities across the country: from Glenfarg to Govanhill, Tiree to Tarras Valley. We have been visiting community organisations whose work on the ground is strengthened by national networks such as Community Land Scotland, the Community Transport Association, the Community Woodlands Association, Scottish Rural Action, Scottish Beacon and GetGrowing.

The Scottish Government’s 2025 consultation paper on Building Community Wealth in Scotland describes CWB as ‘growing the influence communities have on the economy and ensuring communities receive more of the benefits from the wealth they help to generate.’ For this to be realised, CWB needs to become a consistent priority across government. If Scotland is serious about moving to a wellbeing economy, CWB principles must be built into economic development, planning, health, transport and climate policy.

The Community Wealth Building Bill completing Stage 1 presents a vital opportunity – but legislation alone won’t deliver change. The real test is whether it helps devolve decision-making and investment so local economies work for local people.

Empowering councils and public bodies is welcome, but it must go hand in hand with empowering communities themselves. Public bodies should act as supportive partners, enabling communities to generate and retain local wealth for both their own benefit and wider society. That means recognising community anchor organisations as credible, equal partners in shaping how CWB is delivered. It means investing in community capacity so people can fully engage with practical processes like procurement, service delivery and the transfer of public assets into community hands.

Across Scotland, community organisations are proving what is possible when local people have the tools and trust to act. Glenfarg rebuilt its bus service after commercial operators withdrew. Tiree has reinvested community-owned energy income into essential services, homes and local businesses. Community land stewardship at Tarras Valley is delivering environmental, economic and social benefits. In Fort William, the Nevis Centre keeps vital community space in local hands. Greater Govanhill’s community-led journalism strengthens local decision-making. And in Mayfield and Easthouses, community-led growing projects are building food security, skills and resilience.

These examples are not isolated success stories. They are part of a coordinated ecosystem of national networks and intermediaries representing Scotland’s diverse community sector. Their collective strength lies in deep local knowledge, shared learning and the ability to scale practical solutions – a ready-made infrastructure that could deliver Community Wealth Building equitably and effectively, if properly recognised and resourced.

The Scottish Community Alliance’s This is Community Wealth Building series, delivered in partnership with Greater Community Media, shines a light on exactly this kind of work. Each story shows a community-led organisation responding to local needs in practical, grounded ways – because they are led by the people who live there. From community-owned transport and renewable energy to local journalism, regeneration projects and village halls, these initiatives show what CWB looks like when rooted in local ownership. They are the community anchors providing communities with a fixed point to navigate from when it is most needed. 

The Scottish Community Alliance is a coalition of national networks and intermediaries who all represent a different aspect of Scotland’s vibrant community sector. What brings us together is a commitment to the community led organisations who shape our sector. Together, we influence local and national policy development to help us create more equitable ways for community organisations to be at the forefront of decision making. That’s why we wanted to platform the impact community-led organisations are making through this project.

Real progress towards Community Wealth Building depends on supporting the community-led action already happening in our towns, villages and neighbourhoods. Each story offers a snapshot of Community Wealth Building being built from the ground up across Scotland. Communities understand that wealth is more than money – it is wellbeing, fairness, resilience and opportunity.

As Scotland moves toward embedding Community Wealth Building in law, we should remember that communities have been leading this agenda for years. The role of government now is not to reinvent it, but to invest in it – to create the conditions where local people can continue building the fairer, more inclusive economy we all want.

 

Today we have launched This is Community Wealth Building, a series of stories showing what Community Wealth Building looks like in action across Scotland. The series will be published over the next five weeks. You can read more about the series here and follow us on LinkedIn to stay updated.