On the first anniversary of our launch, we look back at what we have achieved so far, and what we have in store for the year ahead.

Future Economy Scotland’s website and social media channels officially went live one year ago today, on 10 May 2023. Our launch video received more than 500,000 views on social media, and our exclusive polling was covered by outlets including The Times and The Herald. We also published a long read diagnosing the key challenges facing Scotland’s economy in the Sunday National.

We then held our in-person launch event in Edinburgh’s Fruitmarket Gallery on 30 May 2023. The event was attended by nearly 100 people, and featured keynote speeches from Gary Gillespie, the Scottish Government’s Chief Economist, and Roz Foyer, General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC).

In June, we launched our two-year ‘Just Transition’ research project. The project aims to develop the bold but credible policies Scotland needs to achieve its goal of delivering a just transition to net zero by 2045. Our project framing paper outlined a detailed assessment of the challenges and opportunities facing Scotland’s economy, and set out the scope of work we will undertake over the next two years. The project covers seven pillars – energy, industrial strategy and fair work, housing, land ownership and land-use, transport, local economies, and fiscal policy.  Throughout the project we intend to work closely with climate and civil society organisations, trade unions and other stakeholders.

Key to delivering a just transition is recognising that climate change and inequality are inherently linked. To highlight this, Future Economy Scotland collaborated with Dr Anne Owen, associate professor at the University of Leeds, to evaluate carbon inequalities in Scotland. Our research found that the carbon footprint of the richest 5 per cent of Scottish households is, on average, 4.1 times greater than that of the poorest 5 per cent. In areas like aviation and private transport, the carbon footprint of the richest households is more ten times higher or more. The findings, covered in The Telegraph, The Herald, and The Scotsman, will inform our work to ensure that the costs of delivering a just transition are fairly shared.

In December, we published our first paper on land reform, Land Reform for a Democratic, Sustainable and Just Scotland. The paper outlined a bold new agenda for transforming how land is owned and managed, while bringing the governance of the country’s land market into the 21st century. Our report was exclusively covered by The Scotsman making clear that Scotland’s dysfunctional land market is acting as a brake on economic progress. The Land Reform (Scotland) Bill was subsequently introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 14 March, and we are now working to ensure the bill is amended to ensure it meets the scale of the challenges Scotland faces.

We have also been engaging extensively on how to scale up nature restoration in Scotland. In September 2023 we published an analysis revealing that the Scottish Government’s efforts to attract private finance into nature have been based on faulty assumptions, and how this risks undermining a just transition. In March this year, we published further analysis highlighting the costs and risks associated with relying on private finance, and identifying the need for new investment models to restore nature while delivering shared benefits. We will be publishing more detailed research on alternative investment models later this year.

In January, we published our Rewiring Local Economies report, demonstrating how Community Wealth Building can be a major catalyst on the path to a just transition. In it, we explore how an appropriately drafted Community Wealth Building Act would reshape Scotland’s approach to economic development, create local high-value green jobs, and ensure these are well paid with security of tenure – while setting a precedent for other countries. This work was covered in the Daily Record. The Scottish Government has committed to passing the world’s first Community Wealth Building Act in the current parliamentary term. Going forward, we intend to engage with local authorities, the Scottish Government and civil society organisations to ensure the promised Act lives up to expectations.

We are also nearing completion of our first report focused on developing a mission-oriented industrial strategy for Scotland. We are delighted to have partnered with Professor Mariana Mazzucato, founder and director of the University College London Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (UCL IIPP), a world-leading expert on industrial strategy, for this work. The project aims to sharpen the Scottish Government’s tools, institutions and resources to galvanise green investment, nurture new industries and transform the labour market in line with a just transition. The Scottish Government promised to introduce a green industrial strategy in its last Programme for Government, and we have been engaging closely with civil servants and others, including hosting a workshop on the design of industrial strategy earlier this year.

Over the past 12 months our research and analysis has featured extensively in the media, including coverage in The Scotsman, The Times, Daily Record, The Herald, and Daily Telegraph. We have also written op-eds and provided comment for The Times, The National, Daily Record, The Herald, Holyrood Magazine and The Ferret. In October last year we were honoured to be interviewed by Neil Mackay for The Herald on Sunday’s ‘Big Read’, where we discussed the need for ambitious policies to deliver a just transition. We have also appeared on various broadcast media outlets, including BBC Good Morning Scotland, Channel 5 News and the BBC’s ‘Disclosure’ documentary series.

We are delighted to have spoken at numerous events and conferences, including those organised by the Just Transition Commission, Scottish Land Commission, Wellbeing Economy Alliance, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Youth Climate Summit, SEDA Land, Community Land Scotland, Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland, Scotonomics, and the Cross-Party Group on the Wellbeing Economy. Our co-directors have also appeared on podcasts including the STUC’s “Mon The Workers”, and the Economic Development Association Scotland (EDAS) podcast.

We continue to publish analysis and insight on our blog. Blogs to date have covered topics including how Scotland is faring against its own climate targets, demystifying the ‘just transition’, how investment flows must be realigned to meet ‘just transition’ goals, a guest blog by Dr Ewan Gibbs on why Scotland’s renewables revolution has yet to generate more domestic jobs, as well as five recommendations for Scotland’s then-Finance Minister Shona Robison ahead of her 2024-25 budget. Most recently, we published a blog assessing the economic challenges facing Scotland’s new First Minister John Swinney, and the need for a new economic strategy.

Future vision

Our vision for Scotland’s economy is ambitious, but we cannot achieve it alone.  As such, we will continue to work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders including other think tanks, civil society and environmental organisations, campaign groups, trade unions and others. We were invited to join both the Just Transition Partnership and the Scottish Government’s Wellbeing Economy Advisory Group, while continuing to work closely with Professor Mariana Mazzucato of UCL’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose.

We expect to be even busier over the next 12 months. In addition to taking forward additional work on land reform, Community Wealth Building, and green industrial strategy – we have an exciting pipeline of research focused on transforming renewable energy, housing, transport, the labour market, fiscal policy and more. We also intend to step up our presence on social media, looking beyond Meta and X, and increase our coverage in the mainstream media, and carrying out a series of interviews with eminent new economy thinkers. As always, we will be providing reactive analysis and insights to policy developments in Scotland.

We remain wedded to our founding ethos that Scotland cannot rely on minor tweaks to the status quo to overcome the economic, social and climate challenges that it faces. Instead, we have to embrace bold new thinking.