Community Wealth Building goes down under!
Across the world Community Wealth Building(CWB) is growing. And through our global network and development activity, TDC is ready to assist and help administrations and locations in their development of CWB. So with a packed range of engagements, I recently undertook a 2 week advisory tour of Australia. I found a significant enthusiasm for CWB with some exciting activities taking place.
It is worth reminding ourselves of the global movement and how far it has come. First articulated by The Democracy Collaborative (TDC) in Cleveland in 2005. CWB spread to the UK – notable in Preston (also here for definitive guide) – and this has been followed in the UK, with dozens of areas that have now embarked on some form of CWB. Furthermore, in a recent blog following another TDC advisory tour, we reported on how Scotland is taking a national approach to CWB, with all 32 local Councils within the country developing bespoke CWB action plans. There is now a Minister for Community Wealth within the Scottish Government. National legislation is being developed to strengthen the legal basis for CWB as a key element of systemic economic transformation.
Similarly, many places across the US are already undertaking strategies within the CWB model. To this end, The Democracy Collaborative is engaging with numerous cities and local governments with the aim to scale and amplify CWB. With interest in Cities such as Amsterdam, and other European cities and now Australia, it is clear that CWB is on the rise, offering a clear means by which we can build a more democratic and just economy which genuinely works for people, place and planet.
Australia is a very rich country and there is no shortage of wealth, driven partly by mining and resource extraction (i.e Australia is one the world’s largest carbon producers, exporting up to 70% of its coal much of it to China. It also has significant global reserves of key minerals and rare metals). In some way, Australia is the world’s quarry and is on the front line of wealth built on resource and financial investment extraction. Whilst the global economy benefits, many Australians suffer from poverty. There is significant inequality of income and wealth with the poorest 50% of Australians sharing only 6% of national personal wealth, whereas the middle 40% and top 10% own around 38% and 56% respectively.
With this as the big picture background, first on my Down Under trip was a visit to Australia’s largest city, Sydney, which is now using the CWB model devised by myself and TDC. Last year the City consulted on their draft CWB strategy. This is their first step toward a suite CWB actions across the five pillars of our TDC CWB model. Key amongst this is a recognition that whilst Australia and Sydney have enjoyed nearly 30 years of uninterrupted economic growth, this success is not being shared by all of Sydney’s citizens, with significant issues of housing affordability.
In meeting with the city of Sydney, it was clear that CWB offers a key economic transition for the city, and it was fabulous to meet with and chat with key officials, Councillors and Deputy Mayor Jess Scully. Jess was not only a firm advocate for CWB, but also a big fan of TDC and our work. Her fabulous book, Glimpses of Utopia, was a fab free read on the plane home, albeit CWB is now more than a glimpse, but a fully fledged and burgeoning agenda.
