Nothing in nature grows forever, not a tree in the forest or cells in our bodies. In fact, we would call this a tumour and seek urgent medical attention. So why do we expect the economy to keep growing forever?

Sometimes it seems like our systems are just immovable despite the apparent demand, to borrow an economics concept, for change.

Think about Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement lasting 59 days in 2011 against economic inequality, corporate greed, big finance and the influence of money in politics. Or the Fridays for Future demonstrations, starting in August 2018, demanding action to prevent climate change and end use of fossil fuels.

Easy to say that nothing has changed, right? It’s very difficult to quantify exactly what impact these, and other movements, have had, but that doesn’t discount their importance. They influence new ways of thinking and change the mindset of individuals, the paradigm out of which the systems arise.

It could be argued that a lack of concrete alternatives led to finance and corporate behaviour to fall into the same traps after OWS that put it there in the first place. This just underscores the importance of fresh and updated ideas about how to do things better.

🍩 Doughnut Economics is one of those ideas.

A healthy economy should be designed to thrive, not grow

The doughnut offers a vision of what it means for humanity to thrive in the 21st century - and Doughnut Economics explores the mindset and ways of thinking needed to get us there.

What is the Doughnut?

Think of it as a compass for human prosperity in the 21st century, with the aim of meeting the needs of all people within the means of the living planet.

The Doughnut consists of two concentric rings: a social foundation, to ensure that no one is left falling short on life’s essentials, and an ecological ceiling, to ensure that humanity dos not collectively overshoot the planetary boundaries that protect Earth’s life-supporting systems. Between these two boundaries lies a doughnut-shaped space that is both ecologically safe and socially just: a space in which humanity can thrive.

The Doughnut is the core concept at the heart of Doughnut Economics.

What is Doughnut Economics?

We cannot meet the 21st century goal to meet the needs of all people within the means of the living planet with last century’s economic thinking.

Doughnut Economics proposes a new economic mindset drawing on insights from diverse schools of economic thought - including ecological, feminist, institutional, behavioural and complexity economics.

The starting point is to change the goal from endless GDP growth to thriving in the Doughnut. The big challenge is that the economy is embedded within, and dependent upon, society and the living world. Doughnut Economics recognises that:

1. Human behaviour can be nurtured to be cooperative and caring, just as it can be competitive and individualistic.

2. Economies are complex, interdependent systems that are best understood through the lens of systems thinking. It calls for turning degenerative and divisive economics into regenerative and distributive ones.

3. Growth may be a healthy phase of life, but nothing grows forever: things that succeed so do by growing until it is time to grow up and thrive instead.

Doughnut Economics proposes Seven ways to think like a 21st century economist 👇.

Shaping organisations to be regenerative and distributive

Doughnut Economics takes it one step further – from theory to practice – by exploring how organisations can be designed in order to shape the economy into one that’s fit for the 21st century.

Doughnut Economics Action Lab works with enterprises, governments, foundations and other organisations to explore what would make it possible for them to be regenerative and distributive.

The focus is not on the design of products and services but on the organisation itself. As described by Marjorie Kelly, a leading theorist in next-generation enterprise design, there are five key layers of design that powerfully shape what an organisation can do and be in the world:

Purpose. Networks. Governance. Ownership. Finance.

Dive deeper

Below I will list resources to explore related to Doughnut Economics if you wish to dig deeper! You can also join the Doughnut Economics Community to engage with others who are interested.

• ‘Change the Goal: From GDP to the Doughnut’, aka Chapter One of Kate Raworth’s book, Doughnut Economics is available for free online.

• 90-second animations about the 7 ways to think like a 21st century economist.

• Story of Five cities in their Doughnut Economics journey - Sydney, Berlin, Melbourne, Brussels, Amsterdam.

• Amsterdam City Doughnut - a part of their circular economy strategy.

I will be posting frontier stuff about sustainable development and impact every single week. If you are interested in these topics make sure to subscribe to the newsletter.

Thank you for being here!

x Verneri

ps: I just couldn’t resist posting the below photo of myself with Kate in September 2023 in Stockholm. Never been so starstruck 🤩… She was totally humble – asking me to fill her in on the impact startup ecosystem ahead of her keynote at Norrsken HQ. Actually here is the keynote she delivered after taking this photo.

Sources used for this Issue:

• "Doughnut Economics Action Lab. 'About Doughnut Economics.' Accessed June 5, 2024. https://doughnuteconomics.org/about-doughnut-economics."