Since 1948, Article 45 of Italy’s constitution has recognised the social function of cooperation, and no government since has legislated against it. In Emilia-Romagna, that helped build an economy where more than 3,600 cooperatives sit alongside a dense network of small, export-focused private firms — Vera says cooperatives now account for up to a fifth of the regional economy once you include the firms they control.

In this conversation: the historical roots of the Emilian model, whether cooperatives and small private business can coexist with capitalism, whether any of this can travel beyond Italy, and why Vera believes the greatest threat to the cooperative model today isn’t politics — it’s artificial intelligence.

CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open 00:58 The Cooperative Economy of Emilia-Romagna 02:15 The Historical Context of Italian Cooperatives 05:55 The Roots of the Emilian Model 11:21 The Scale of Cooperative Italy Today 16:32 Can Cooperatives Keep Growing? 22:00 Cooperatives and Capitalism: Is Coexistence Possible? 26:08 Can the Model Travel Beyond Italy? 31:45 Resisting the AI Tsunami 33:54 Britain’s Identity Crisis and the Anglo-Saxon Trap 38:44 Culture Before Everything: Growing Co-ops Without the Italian Foundations 47:08 Italy’s Constitutional Shield 50:32 Building from Below: The New York Childcare Experiment 56:41 Cooperation Among Cooperatives: Italy’s Networked Model

Full show notes, chapters and further reading: https://content.changingthenarrative.media/written-into-the-constitution-how-italy-nurtures-and-protects-its-co-ops

Become a Subscriber+ member to hear how Vera actually found her way into this work, and her years running part of the regional government: https://content.changingthenarrative.media

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.