Community Wealth Building: Local People Leading

This event is an opportunity to come together for inspiration, practical ideas and meaningful conversations about how local people, communities and organisations can have a greater say in shaping our local economy. Community Wealth Building is about changing the way wealth is created, owned and retained locally – ensuring that communities and local organisations benefit from the resources, assets and investment around them.

We will hear from Hannah Mary Goodlad, Minister for Public Finance in the Scottish Government.

We have keynote speaker, Neil McInroy from the Democracy Collaborative, a world‑renowned Community Wealth Building expert who will discuss community wealth building as a practical way to tackle inequality, keep wealth in local areas and build stronger local economies.

Stow Community Trust will share their experience of developing local assets for the common good, offering insight into what is possible when communities take the lead.

Scottish Rural Action will outline exciting plans for the Scottish Rural and Islands Parliament, coming to the Borders in 2027, and how local organisations and communities can get involved.

You will also have the chance to choose from a range of interactive workshops, including:

• Local assets and community ownership: exploring how communities can take greater ownership and control of local assets, facilitated by DTAS and Community Land Scotland.
• Financial resilience, Beyond grants: looking at approaches to building more sustainable and resilient community organisations, led by SCVO, Social Enterprise Scotland, Firstport.
• Inclusive and democratic business models: exploring new ways of organising and running community‑based organisations with Neil McInroy and Social Enterprise Scotland.
• Overcoming barriers to Fair Work and Fair Funding: considering what needs to change to create better and fairer conditions for the third sector, led by the Centre for Local Economies.
• Why young people’s voices matter: hearing from Scottish Rural Action and the Scottish Borders Youth Local Action Group about putting young people at the heart of local decision‑making.

We will bring together third sector organisations, community groups, public sector partners, social enterprises and others who care about creating a stronger, fairer and more resilient Scottish Borders.

Whether you are already working on community ownership, social enterprise, local procurement or fair work, or you are simply curious about what Community Wealth Building could mean for your organisation, this is a chance to connect, learn and explore what we can do differently together.

You will hear from people already making change.

This is not just a conference – it is a chance to be part of the conversation about what Community Wealth Building could look like in the Scottish Borders. Bring your experience, your challenges, your ideas and your questions. Meet other organisations. Discover new opportunities. Share what works. Challenge what doesn’t. And help shape how local people and communities can have a greater stake in the future of the Borders.

The conference will be include the Borders Community Action AGM, making it an important date in the BCA calendar.