Why? Well, its fun (most of the time), people seem to want us to, and we really believe it is necessary.

Have you ever thought about what the economy is really for?   Like, really thought about it?   Whose needs does it serve really?    We’ve explored this quite a lot in a number of different ways and with lots of different people.  As a result, we reckon there needs to be more of a balance back to the local level, economically.  In the modern, globalised economic system, small rural towns like ours can get a bit left behind, undervalued, marginalised, undermined even.  Yet we have lots to offer.  And there is much potential that is overlooked.

We believe many of the best answers for our local community, lie within the local community and we should look there first.  But that’s more about How we do what we do, here’s a bit more about why we do it…

The environmental case for doing things more locally is now well acknowledged – less food miles, less CO2 emissions etc.  But we believe there is a highly significant economic and social case too.  Most simply, more jobs mean more vibrant communities mean happier, more sustainable places to live.

There is nothing massively new in that observation; more farmers farming, more vibrant high streets, more opportunities for young people, closer supply chains circulate more money faster and more locally.  We’ve looked to put some evidence to that.  Here are some of the things we have found out through some of the research that has been going on over the past few years.

The Reconomy work is about bring more economic activity back closer to home – as much as is appropriate to do so – in order to make our communities resilient.  We call this relocalisation.

Doing this in the face of modern environmental challenges and at the pace of modern globalisation, does call on some new thinking and new ways of doing things.  That is why we are about engaging with both traditional values and contemporary ideas to build a strong local economy.  One that provides a good quality of life for all and is ready for the challenges of an ever increasingly changing world.

If you want more of the evidence base, check out our Local Economic Blueprint.