In the second article in this collaborative series with Oxfam Cymru, Dawn Lyle, co-director of Wellbeing Economy Cymru and 4theRegion, advances Wellbeing Economics as the economic strategy Wales must pursue, to deliver well-being for people, places and planet.
Conversations about the Wales we want are well rehearsed. A green and prosperous Wales, where local communities are thriving and everyone has access to the means of their wellbeing – decent housing, healthy food, access to nature, a sense of belonging in a cohesive community, universal public services that are well resourced. We want a Wales that cares for people and planet – the vision established by the Well-being of Future Generations Act and its seven wellbeing goals.
The burning question, of course, is how all this can realistically be achieved, in the context of a globalised economy that is characterised by overproduction, consumerism, and extractive practices that move wealth out of local places and into the hands of distant shareholders. A market-driven economy whose ethos has been to commercialise all aspects of life whilst reducing the capacity of national governments to provide for their citizens – through privatisation, decades of austerity and a fixation with economic growth.
Traditionally, politicians and government ministers have hoped that economic growth can enable greater wellbeing for all. The logic is that if we can secure, for Wales, a little bit more of the economic action – attracting inward investment from global businesses looking for land, skills and friendly government partners; and growing bigger, more productive businesses that can make and export more, and employ more people; then this economic growth will lift all boats – increasing prosperity and creating more opportunities for paid work for the people of Wales.
But will it?
Let’s be real: growing (our dependence on) this unequal, extractive and destructive economy will never deliver wellbeing for Wales, or for any other people or place.
In any conversation about Wales’ challenges, from poverty, to joblessness, from the plight of our farmers and rural economy, to the difficulties faced by our small businesses, from the climate crisis and the nature emergency, to worsening levels of physical and mental ill health, disease and disability – global consumerism is the elephant in the room. We can’t hope to address all of these negative impacts of the consumer economy, without recognising their cause in an economic system that pursues profit and financial growth at any cost.
Let’s be real: growing (our dependence on) this unequal, extractive and destructive economy will never deliver wellbeing for Wales, or for any other people or place.
So if we are serious about providing a decent social foundation for all the people of Wales, and creating a sustainable green economy that operates within the ecological limits (carrying capacity) of our planet, we must move beyond the pursuit of economic growth, to ask what kind of economy we are seeking to grow.
We need a new framework for economic development, and a whole new measure of economic success.
Enter, the Wellbeing Economy.
Across Wales, an alternative economy is developing, aligned to the seven wellbeing goals of the Future Generations Act, with the potential to deliver that vision of a Wales that cares for people and planet, in spite of what’s happening in the mainstream economy.
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In all sorts of ways, at a national, regional, local and community level, the Wellbeing Economy is growing, characterised by the de-prioritisation of financial outcomes in favour of wellbeing outcomes for people, communities, nature and climate.
Whenever a business, an organisation, a community or a person makes a decision based on wellbeing outcomes (rather than for profit or financial gain), that’s Wellbeing Economics in action.
Social value, social partnership, foundational economics, community wealth building… different labels representing a huge amount of thought-leadership across the public and third sectors in Wales; whilst in the private sector, the circular economy, the green economy, purpose-driven businesses and social enterprises point at a new playing field for truly sustainable economic activity.
The Wellbeing Economy offers a unifying narrative for all of this good stuff that is happening in Wales.
For example, the Welsh Government taking steps to remove profit from the care system, is Wellbeing Economics in action. The aim is “to ensure that public money invested in accommodation for care experienced children is not extracted out as profit, but instead any surpluses are reinvested back into children’s services to support better outcomes, sustainable services, and the professional development of those caring for children.”
Procurement reform is an example of Wellbeing Economics in action. Local authorities and public bodies across Wales are working on re-localising their supply chains, creating more opportunities for locally owned small and medium sized businesses (and social enterprises) to win public contracts, keeping more money circulating within our local economies rather than leaking out as corporate profit.
Whenever a business, an organisation, a community or a person makes a decision based on wellbeing outcomes (rather than for profit or financial gain), that’s Wellbeing Economics in action.
Another example is Cwmni Bro Ffestiniog in North Wales, a network of social enterprises which is taking the economic fortunes of the local community into its own hands, setting up tourism businesses and community facilities and involving local people in decision-making, “in order to promote the environmental, economic, social and cultural development of the area.”
The growing number of Welsh B Corps is evidence of Wellbeing Economics in action. B Corps are purpose-driven rather than profit-driven (although they can be profit-making); businesses that have taken steps to ensure they are a force for good in the world, demonstrating high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
In our towns, villages and high streets, Wellbeing Economics takes the form of community-led regeneration and community ownership of assets, where determined groups of people work to acquire, transform and manage disused buildings (old pubs, post offices, civic buildings and high street shops) for the benefit of local people, breathing new life into towns trodden down by globalisation.
Wellbeing Economics also looks like you, and me, making different choices about how to spend our money, buying less from online retailers, and more from independent businesses in our local places.
The challenge we face is to distinguish clearly, in all of our decision-making, between Business As Usual – which generally means participating in the consumer economy and its accompanying ethos; and Wellbeing Economics – which means using all available economic levers to develop those parts of the economy that actually serve the wellbeing of people and planet, rather than destroying both.
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The more we remove the profit motive from our essential services; the more we bring local economic activity back into local ownership; the more we redefine business as a vehicle for delivering wellbeing, rather than as a purely money-making operation; the more we re-localise our supply chains, grow more of our own food, and generate our own renewable energy; the more we spend our money in alignment with our values – rather than seeking the cheapest or most convenient/easiest/fastest option; in essence, the more we de-prioritise financial outcomes in pursuit of human, social and environmental wellbeing, the closer we get to a Wales that cares for people and planet.
So let’s stop talking about growing the economy, and talk instead about growing the Wellbeing Economy, investing in shared assets that make us less dependent on global consumerism, and more resilient in the face of it.
That’s the agenda at the upcoming Wellbeing Economy Cymru Festival of Ideas, taking place in Swansea on 18th November, co-hosted by the Future Generations Commissioner, Cwmpas, 4theRegion and WE Cymru. We hope you’ll come and join the conversation.
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