New Report Urges Government to do Localism Well

A new whitepaper released on the the 25th of July and published by the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) Aotearoa and The Urban Advisory aims to change that.

“We use the knowledge from successful community wealth building cases from across the world and show how this can be implemented in a New Zealand context,” said Gareth Hughes, Director of WEAll Aotearoa.

“We have taken the five pillars of the approach and shown how they can be localised, forming a pathway to develop community wealth building here. It is being practised here anyway, this report forms a way that we can bring structure and connection to the actions that we see on the ground already. The government is speaking about devolution and localism - here is how we can do it so it benefits us all”

The report outlines the case of Preston in the north of England. The 2000s saw a community in decline with numerous economic and social issues. In response, in 2011, Preston City Council adopted a “guerilla localism” strategy to build community wealth. Unemployment dropped from 6.5% in 2014 to 4% in 2023; living wage jobs increased  from 76% in 2015 to 88% in 2022; and anchor institution spending in the Preston economy increased from £38m in 2013 to £111m in 2017. 

“We think we can use these successful global case studies as a guide to community wealth building  in Aotearoa. These are learnings that can be applied here. The economy as we know it is not working for most; we can look to community wealth building as an alternative economic framework. Just measuring GDP is not enough, there needs to be a wider focus. CWB provides one way to do this; it is designing a new economic model that harnesses local spending and supply chains, prioritises fair employment, invests locally, diversifies ownership models and makes land and assets work for locals and the environment,” said Greer O'Donnell, co-founder and Managing Director of Urban Advisory.

The report also shows community groups that are working towards community wealth outcomes. One of these is the Porirua Wealth Pool created by Te Hiko in Porirua. The Pool consists of a group of locals who have come together to save their money collectively. The group experiences the power of having savings for emergencies, but also allows people to lend to each other within the community.

"For us at Te Hiko, these alternative economies are essential in thinking about how we can restore mana and capital back to Porirua East. For years, this community has been depleted of resources, leaving many people vulnerable and stretched just getting by. We wanted to create some infrastructure which our Porirua East community can use to keep control over their finances and push past the more common models of dependence,” said David Hanna of Te Hiko.

The report outlines how local government, organisations, businesses, and people can encourage community wealth building in their own regions.

“We would love to hear from anybody who would like to learn more or be part of this movement of change. Our environment is being degraded, there is more in-work poverty, the current system is not working, and community wealth building is an answer to these issues. It’s localism done well,” said Hughes.