Wellbeing economy monitor: December 2023 update

1. Our vision for Scotland as a wellbeing economy

In Scotland we recognise that all economic activity should serve a purpose. It should be a means to meeting everyone's basic needs and improving our collective health and wellbeing, so that all of Scotland's people and places can thrive and prosper. That also means responsible stewardship of our natural environment to safeguard the wellbeing of both current and future generations, and to make a positive contribution internationally.

Our vision for Scotland is to transition to a wellbeing economy: that is, an economic system, within safe environmental limits, which serves and prioritises the collective wellbeing of current and future generations. This vision sits at the heart of the National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET), which contains bold actions, within available constitutional powers, to take some of the crucial steps needed towards realising that goal.

On 31 October 2022, we published delivery plans for each of the strategy's programmes. These prioritise projects which can best provide support during the cost crisis in the short-term, and also those that will make the biggest contribution to sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Indeed, we are already delivering on the strategy's transformational projects. For example, we have invested £42m in our national Techscaler network to support the next generation of Scottish start-ups and boost entrepreneurship in Scotland, launched the first tranche of our hydrogen investment programme via the Emerging Energy Technologies Fund (EETF) Hydrogen Innovation Scheme, connected over 25,000 houses through R100, and introduced Fair Work conditionality.