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Helpful prior learning and learning objectives
Helpful prior learning and learning objectives
Helpful prior learning:
Helpful prior learning:
Section 1.1.1 The economy and you which explains what an economy is and how it is relevant to students’ lives
Section 1.1.2 The embedded economy, which explains the relationship between the economy and society and Earth’s systems.
Section 1.1.3 Degenerative economies, which explain a number of problems for people and planet with the way our current economies operate
Section S.1 What are systems?, which explains what a system is, the importance of systems boundaries, the difference between open and closed systems and the importance of systems thinking
Section S.2 Systems thinking patterns, which outlines the core components of systems thinking: distinctions (thing/other), systems (part/whole), relationships (action/reaction), and perspectives (point/view)
Learning objectives:
Learning objectives:
outline characteristics of regenerative economies: circular, distributive and caring, needs-based and sufficient
Imagine a lush forest, filled with tall trees, chirping birds and other animals. Now, imagine that forest on fire. You might think a fire destroys the forest and all its life. But forests recover over time through a process called succession.
Immediately after a fire, the forest floor is blackened, but some hardy plant species like mosses and lichens soon return. They help break down rock and create soil as they die and decay. That soil allows more complex plants to grow and provide habitats for animals. Over time, the forest rebuilds its richness and diversity. A healthy system regenerates itself.
Figure 1. Regeneration in action, a forest in Estonia after a fire
and nine years later
What are regenerative economies?
What are regenerative economies?
The economy is all the human systems that transfer and transform energy and matter to meet human needs and wants.
Regenerative economies work like resilient forests that can recover after a disruption. They help human and ecological systems thrive together by being circular, distributive and caring, and focused on needs and sufficiency. The text below gives an overview of these ideas, which are explored in more depth in Subtopic 1.4.
Circular economies
In contrast to the current linear economy, a regenerative economy is a circular economy (Section 1.4.2).
Before outlining the principles of a circular economy, it is useful to understand how our economies need to relate to nature to be sustainable. Hermann Daly, a pioneer in ecological economics, suggested three key rules or goals for how economies should use resources:
do not use renewable resources faster than they can be regenerated;
emit waste no faster than it can be absorbed safely into ecosystems;
deplete nonrenewable resources no faster than renewable substitutes can be developed to replace them.
Circular economies follow these rules by designing products and services at the start so that waste is safely returned to nature or reused in new ways. They keep materials moving in loops, reducing waste and pollution. And they aim to regenerate ecosystems by building a healthy, reciprocal relationship with nature.
While recycling is one part of a circular economy, regeneration goes further. It means designing systems that actively restore nature and improve the health of living systems. The short video below from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation explains the circular economy and its regenerative role.
The short video below from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation explains the circular economy and its regenerative role.
Distributive and caring economies
Strong social relationships are essential for wellbeing and resilience, enabling people to use time, energy and money to support their families, make and keep friends, and develop community ties. Regenerative economies support these relationships in two important ways: by sharing resources and power fairly, and by recognising and supporting care.
Distributive economies
Distributive economies work to ensure that economic benefits and power are shared widely, not concentrated in the hands of a few (Section 1.4.3). States, businesses, and communities all contribute to distributive economies. The state is a particularly important actor because it can offer financial support when people need it and ensure access to essentials like healthcare, food, and education. The state can also reduce extreme economic inequality through tools such as minimum wages, progressive taxes, and free or low-cost public services.
Distributive economies also share decision-making power more fairly, including diverse groups in shaping economic choices. This makes it easier to solve shared problems.
Figure 2. Universal health care is one of the most important distributive strategies for human wellbeing
(Credit: World Bank Photo Collection CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Caring economies
Caring economies value the time, energy and relationships involved in care, both for people and for the natural world (Section 1.3.7 and Section 1.4.4). They support care by:
investing in infrastructure and services that make care easier to give and receive;
ensuring that care is shared more fairly between genders and generations;
protecting care workers through supportive laws;
funding care systems properly so that everyone can thrive.
Needs-based and sufficient economies
Regenerative economies do not aim to grow forever. They recognise that the Earth has limits and that our goal should be to meet the needs of all within the limits of the planet. This requires that we aim for sufficiency rather than endless economic growth, particularly in Global North countries where most human needs have been met. This balance between human needs and planetary limits is captured well by the Doughnut Economics model (Figure 3), which is explored in greater detail in Section 1.3.4.
The inner ring of the model represents the social foundation for meeting human needs: sufficient food and water, access to energy, education and networks, housing incomes, political voice, and other needs discussed in greater detail in Section 1.3.3. The outer ring of the model represents the ecological ceiling, representing Earth’s nine life-supporting systems and their ecological limits discussed in greater detail in Section 1.2.7.
Figure 3. The Doughnut Economics model showing the 'safe and just space for humanity'
(Credit: Raworth and Guthier CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Regenerative economies leave no one in the hole of the Doughnut without their needs being met, nor exceed the ability of Earth’s systems to support us. This sweet spot is the green Doughnut, the 'safe and just space for humanity' where humans can thrive in balance with nature, as economist Kate Raworth describes in the short video below.
The goal of sufficiency doesn’t mean giving up what matters. In fact, living within limits often supports our health and happiness. Caring relationships make us feel secure and help us share energy, tools and other resources efficiently. A sense of purpose, often found in caring for others, spirituality, or creative work, can shift attention away from endless consumption. Eating mostly plants and fungi low on the food chain (Section 1.2.5) is better for the planet and for our health. Work that relies less on machines and more on human effort keep people active and involved in daily life
Sufficiency helps us thrive in balance with one another and nature. It encourages us to live well with purpose, care and connection, instead of always chasing more.
Activity 1.1.4
Activity 1.1.4
Concept: Systems
Skills: Thinking skills (creative thinking)
Time: 30 minutes
Type: Individual or pair, preferably group to foster discussion.
Some years ago, a young graphic designer was upset to see the stories on the cover of Girls’ Life magazine. The stories emphasised girls’ looks and fashion and were very different from the stories in the equivalent of Boys’ Life magazine. The graphic designer decided to redesign the cover to emphasise positive, ambitious stories for girls.
We can do the same for other media and the kinds of stories that describe our economies.
Get a hold of a newspaper, or access an online news source. It doesn’t have to be an economics or business section. It can also be the front page of the publication.
Look at the headlines and scan the articles. Identify stories that seem to show degenerative economic activities and also those that show regenerative economic activities. Put the headlines into two sections labelled “degenerative economic activities” and “regenerative economic activities”.
Depending on how much time you have (in order from less time to more time):
Select one of the titles of the degenerative economic news stories and rewrite the title to be a regenerative economic news story
Select more than one of the titles to rewrite
Redesign the entire cover so that all of the stories convey regenerative economic ideas. This could be deeper engagement as a longer art project similar to the magazine cover mentioned at the start of the activity.
Share your rewrites with a partner or a group.
Ideas for longer activities, deeper engagement, and projects are listed in Subtopic 1.5 Taking action
Checking for understanding
Checking for understanding
Further exploration
Further exploration
How do we create a better economy? TED-Ed animated video narrated by Kate Raworth about the problem with endless economic growth and the different vision of the Doughnut Economics model. Difficulty level: easy
World Happiness Report - a yearly report that assesses countries based on how happy their people say they are. The report helps us understand how different countries support people’s wellbeing, beyond just economic growth. Each yearly report has a special theme. In 2025, it’s focused on the role of caring and sharing for human happiness and wellbeing. Difficulty level: medium
Demystifying Degrowth - a short animation from the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung that explains the concept of degrowth, which is about meeting human needs within the means of the planet through sufficiency and regeneration. Difficulty level: easy
It takes a village: the Indian farmers who built a wall against drought - News article about a village in India that built infrastructure to prevent water runoff, regenerate soils, and support access to food and local livelihoods. What characteristics of regenerative economies can you find in the story? Difficulty level: easy
Capitalism | FULL DEBATE | Doha Debates w/ Jason Hickel, Anand Giridharadas, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim - A debate between three different perspectives on the role of economic growth in meeting human needs within planetary boundaries. Difficulty: medium
The Serviceberry - a short book (about 2 hours to read) with an extended analogy between the Serviceberry plant and human economies, focusing on gratitude, reciprocity and sufficiency. The link here is to a shorter article on the same topic in Emergence magazine. Difficulty level: easy
Sources
Sources
Ellen MacArthur Foundation. How to Build a Circular Economy. ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/
Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist. London: Penguin Random House
Wellbeing Economy Alliance. (2019). What is a wellbeing economy? https://wellbeingeconomy.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/A-WE-Is-WEAll-Ideas-Little-Summaries-of-Big-Issues-4-Dec-2019.pdf
Terminology (in order of appearance)
Terminology (in order of appearance)
succession: the process where communities of plants and animals develop over time, becoming more complex and diverse until a stable state is reached
regenerate: the process of restoring and revitalising something
economy: all the human-made systems that transfer and transform energy and matter to meet human needs
transfer: to move something from one place to another
transform: a change in the state, energy or chemical nature of something
energy: the ability to do work or cause change
matter: anything that takes up space and has mass
regenerative economy: an economic system that meets human needs in a way that strengthens social and ecological systems
resilient: able to recover after a disturbance
ecosystem: the interaction of groups of organisms with each other and their physical environment
circular: having the form of a circle; in this course, closing the loop on linear economic systems
distributive: when something is widely or evenly shared or divided among individuals
care: the act of providing what is necessary for the health, welfare, upkeep, and protection of someone or something
sufficient: when there is enough of something
linear economy: an economic system where resources are extracted to make products that eventually end up as waste
circular economy: an economic system where nature is regenerated and materials are kept in circulation through maintenance, reuse, recycling, composting, and other processes
sustainable: meeting human needs within planetary limits
ecological economics: a strand of economics that studies the relationship between human economies and ecosystems
renewable resource: natural resources that can be regenerated in a human timescale
nonrenewable resource: natural resources that cannot be regenerated in a human timescale
reciprocity: exchanging things and favours with others for mutual benefit
distributive economy: an economy that shares economic benefits and power more evenly among individuals
power: the ability to influence events or the behaviour of other people
state: a system that provides essential public services, and also governs and regulates other economic institutions
economic inequality: unequal distribution of income and opportunity between different groups in society
minimum wage: the lowest wage permitted by law or other agreement
progressive tax: a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases
infrastructure: large scale physical systems that a society needs to function (roads, railways, electricity networks, etc)
sufficient: an amount of something that is enough
economic growth: an increase in the total value of goods and services produced in a period of time
Doughnut Economics model: a visual framework shaped like a doughnut that emphasises the need to achieve the social foundation (human needs) within planetary boundaries
social foundation: the conditions that humans need to survive and thrive
ecological ceiling: the limits of Earth's systems to support life
consumption: using resources and products to meet needs
food chain: a series of organisms, each one dependent on the one before it as food; shows the transfer and transformation of energy and matter through living organisms in an ecosystem
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