Neil McInroy on community wealth building and Scotland's world-first law

Scotland has become the first country in the world to write community wealth building into law. Neil McInroy — Global Lead for Community Wealth Building at The Democracy Collaborative, and previously chief executive of CLES — explains what that actually means: who holds wealth in a place, how to make more of it stay, and the five pillars the approach works through, from fair work and public procurement to community finance, land, and inclusive ownership. He traces the idea from Cleveland’s Evergreen Cooperatives to the Preston model and on to the Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Act 2026 — and is candid about the limits: what a framework can and can’t do against data centres and footloose capital, why the legislation caused a pause as much as a surge, and why, on his account, none of it works without an organised movement underneath it. Chapters 00:00 Understanding Community Wealth Building 04:00 Five Pillars of Community Wealth Building 07:20 Global Expansion of Community Wealth Building 10:44 The Preston Model and Its Success 13:05 Catalysts for Uptake of Community Wealth Building 16:35 Addressing Modern Economic Challenges 18:24 The Evolution of Community Wealth Building 21:33 Community Wealth Building in the face of AI and Data Centres 25:35 Understanding Community Wealth Building and Lessons Learnt 31:12 Building community and becoming activist citizens 32:46 The Need for Real System Change 36:40 Comparison with other alternative economic frameworks 37:32 Engaging with the Marginalized 40:59 Future Prospects for Community Wealth Building 44:50 Being conscious of the needs of the people within a community 47:28 The future of Community Wealth Building 51:09 Is the Scottish CWB Act getting the attention it deserves 53:43 Can the embracing of CWB be expedited About Neil McInroy Neil McInroy is Global Lead for Community Wealth Building at The Democracy Collaborative, the US-based research organisation that originated the term, where he supports inclusive-ownership strategies and systemic economic reform in the US and internationally. He spent around two decades as Chief Executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) in Manchester, where he helped pioneer community wealth building in Britain, including the Preston model. He has advised the Scottish Government on community wealth building and chairs the Economic Development Association Scotland (EDAS). Sources: The Democracy Collaborative; Future Economy Scotland. Further reading The Democracy Collaborative — community wealth building The Democracy Collaborative on the Scottish law — “A World First“ Community Wealth Building (Scotland) Act 2026 — full text, legislation.gov.uk Scottish Government — community wealth building policy Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) — cles.org.uk Listen & watch 🎧 Audio: https://podcasts.changingthenarrative.media/@ChangingTheNarrative/episodes/neil-mcinroy-on-community-wealth-building-and-scotlands-world-first-law ▶️ Video: https://youtu.be/ofpnimWFoEc Also on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and wherever you get your podcasts.