Wellbeing economy toolkit: supporting place based economic strategy and policy development

Introduction

The Scottish Government’s economic vision for Scotland is to transition to a wellbeing economy, delivering prosperity, wellbeing and resilience for all Scotland’s people and places, within safe environmental limits.

This transition requires involvement and action from all spheres – public, private and third sectors and local communities. As such, this guide is applicable to a wide range of policy areas across government, agencies and other public bodies, and third sector and community organisations.

Informed by the Wellbeing Economy Pilot project in Clackmannanshire, this toolkit is intended to provide a resource for those involved in local and regional economic development, particularly local authorities and Regional Economic Partnerships (REPS) across Scotland to support local and regional economies to transition to a wellbeing economy. At a regional level, the priorities identified through this diagnostic process could be brought together to inform the strategic decisions via REPS.

The toolkit is rooted in the National Performance Framework (NPF) – Scotland’s Wellbeing Framework – and it incorporates, builds on and progresses our sustainable, inclusive growth approach to economic development. The intention of this toolkit is to provide a holistic view of economic strategy, policy and delivery by helping to join up a range of existing policies and approaches under one broad umbrella.

It encourages place-based policy makers to regard the economy as a system embedded within society and the natural environment, and as something that can drive both positive and negative outcomes for people, place and planet. This toolkit aims to guide users, informed by evidence and supported by community participation and system analysis, in identifying the most significant drivers of wellbeing outcomes in a local area and in prioritising interventions designed to have the greatest impact on improving wellbeing outcomes.