New research released today by Localise West Midlands, supported by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, explores ways in which community economic development can help the wider economy better adapt to challenging circumstances, as well as promoting economic activity which is more grounded in places, people and local resources.
 
Localise West Midlands is a not-for-profit think-tank, campaign group and consultancy, which promotes localisation for social, environmental and economic benefit. Their latest report examines ways in which mainstreaming economic localisation and community economic development can help to create a more socially just and diverse economy. You can find out more information on the project website.
 
The report notes evidence that distant public and private sector decision-makers lead to long-term economic failure; calls for more business leaders to be part of and committed to the communities in which their businesses operate and finds that open networking and the sharing of good practice across organisations can help local economic dynamism. It also noted that financial institutions are generally considered to serve local economies poorly, with a structural bias towards large organisations.
 
Read the Mainstreaming Community Economic Development reports in full or in summary.