Embedded Files
Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives
Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives
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 5.1.1 The state as a system, which defines the state, its parts and their relationships, and some ways to classify states
Section 5.1.2 Origins, legitimacy and power of states, which explains how states came about, how they gain legitimacy and maintain power
Section 5.1.3 State functions, which explains the various roles of the state in providing goods and services, protecting the population, and stabilising and guiding change
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)
Section S.3 Systems diagrams and models, which explains the systems thinking in some familiar information tools as well as the symbols used to represent parts/wholes, relationships and perspectives.
Section S.5 Causal loops, feedback and tipping points, which explains the feedback loops that can stabilise or destabilise systems.
Section S.8 Leverage points, which describes various leverage points for systems change
Learning objectives:
describe how cities and regions are using the Doughnut Economics model to understand their economics and redesign them to meet human needs within planetary boundaries
In 2024, the town of Tomelilla in Sweden asked a team of architects and researchers to design a school based on Doughnut Economics. They explored a big question: how could a school meet students’ needs while also caring for the planet?
They imagined outdoor classrooms in the forest, food gardens, and greenhouses made from reused local materials. Children would learn with the help of nature experts. The school buildings would use bricks, hempcrete, and clay, built to be taken apart and reused. A nature playground would support both children and local wildlife. Inside, rooms would be heated by zone, saving energy and matching the seasons.
Whether or not the school is built exactly like this, the process showed how the Doughnut model can help communities dream and plan for a better future.
Figure 1. The Doughnut Economics model is a tool for imagining a future of human and ecological thriving.
(Credit: WHEN!WHEN!)
What does it mean to live in the Doughnut?
What does it mean to live in the Doughnut?
The Doughnut Economics model (Figure 2, and Section 1.3.4) shows a safe and just space for humanity. The inner edge marks the social foundation. It includes things people need to live well like food, water, education, housing, energy, and health care. The outer edge marks the ecological ceiling. It marks the limits of disturbance to Earth’s life-support systems (Section 1.2.7). Living in the Doughnut means meeting everyone’s needs without pushing the planet beyond its limits.
Globally, we have a shortfall in the social foundation and are overshooting the ecological ceiling (Figure 3). Billions of people are unable to meet basic needs, and we are already exceeding six (nearly seven) planetary boundaries.
Figure 2. The Doughnut Economics model showing the “safe and just space for humanity” where human needs are met within planetary boundaries
(Credit: Raworth and Guthier CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Figure 3. Not meeting the needs of all within the means of the planet.
(Note: this diagram doesn’t capture the latest data on planetary boundaries. Air pollution and chemical pollution are in overshoot, ocean acidification is close.
(Credit: Raworth and Guthier CC-BY-SA 4.0)
Cities play an important role in getting into the Doughnut. More than half of the world’s people live in cities, and that number is growing. Cities shape how we live, from housing and jobs to transport and energy use. They also use a lot of resources, often more than is fair or sustainable. That’s why many cities (and many other types of communities!) are asking:
How can our place be a home to thriving people,
in a thriving place,
while respecting the wellbeing of all people and
the health of the whole planet?
What does a city in the Doughnut look like?
What does a city in the Doughnut look like?
To explore this question, cities use a tool called the Doughnut Unrolled (Figure 4 and Figure 5). This version of the model has four lenses. These lenses help cities look at both local and global impacts on social and ecological wellbeing.
Local-social lens: How can all of the people of this place thrive? The city meets everyone’s basic needs. People have enough to eat, live in safe homes, go to school, and access health care. They can shape local decisions and feel part of the community. No one is left out, and everyone lives with dignity.
Local-ecological lens: How can this place be as generous as the wildland next door? Now The city acts more like the ecological systems that surround it. Its buildings collect rainwater and clean the air. Its parks and gardens give space to animals and plants. The city works with and supports the local ecosystem.
Global-ecological lens: How can this place respect the health of the whole planet? The people in a city understand that their production, consumption and lifestyles impact Earth’s life-support systems far beyond the city’s borders. A city in the Doughnut cuts carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, uses fewer materials to reduce impacts on land and water, and helps protect the climate, oceans, air, and biodiversity for everyone.
Global-social lens: How can this place respect the wellbeing of all people (worldwide)? The people in a city understand their connection to people around the world, like workers making clothes, farmers growing food or migrants searching for safety. A city in the Doughnut respects and supports their rights and wellbeing along with its own people through fair trade and ethical supply chains and procurement, advocacy for marginalised people elsewhere, welcoming those in need and many other actions.
These ideas are not new. Many Indigenous communities have lived this way for generations. Today, no city fully lives in the Doughnut, but many are beginning the journey.
How are cities using the Doughnut?
How are cities using the Doughnut?
Cities don’t follow one set path. They choose tools and steps that match their situation. Some start small, while others build full city strategies. Here are three key ways cities are using the Doughnut.
Measuring with the Data Portrait of Place
Measuring with the Data Portrait of Place
Many cities use the Doughnut to create a picture of where they stand. This Data Portrait of Place combines local and global data across the four lenses. It shows how the city is currently doing and where it wants to go, serving as a compass.
The first step is asking: what does it mean to live well here? The answers help choose what to measure, such as access to homes, income, education, clean air, and water. Some data comes from government sources. Other insights come from walks, storytelling, or local workshops. These help capture lived experiences, not just numbers.
A Data Portrait isn’t perfect or final. It’s a shared picture that sparks questions, and ideas, and helps decide where the most urgent action is needed.
Figure 6. Cities like Barcelona are creating data portraits to understand how well, or not, they are meeting human needs within planetary boundaries. Notice that both the local and global scales are included in the portrait.
(Credit: DEAL)
Rethinking strategies and policies
Rethinking strategies and policies
Some cities use the Doughnut to shape public strategies and plans. It helps them ask:
Do our current policies help people thrive?
Do they protect nature, here and elsewhere?
Are any policies causing harm?
Cities apply these questions to areas like transport, housing, health, education, and climate action. Some even use the Doughnut to review every policy and find gaps or overlaps. This helps different departments work together and avoid trade-offs, where solving one problem creates another. The Doughnut can also be written into city policies. That way, it becomes a guide for future decisions, making it easier to stay focused on long-term goals.
Figure 7. Glasgow, Scotland is using the Doughnut to co-design a vision for a thriving city.
(Credit: DEAL)
Demonstrating change through real projects
Demonstrating change through real projects
Cities also test Doughnut ideas through real-life projects. These might be new ways of making energy, growing food, or designing buildings that help nature thrive. The projects aim to answer two key questions:
Does this support local wellbeing and the environment?
Does it also stay within global ecological limits and respect people elsewhere?
Some cities develop tools to check if a project fits Doughnut goals before giving it funding. Others use the model to improve existing plans. These projects also invite local people to take part, making change something that is done with communities, not to them. Over time, these small steps make the Doughnut more visible in daily life and build knowledge, skills, and momentum.
What examples are there of the Doughnut in action?
What examples are there of the Doughnut in action?
More than 50 cities and regions around the world have formally brought the Doughnut model into their planning work, and more than 100 are exploring it. Here are three examples of how cities are using it in different ways and more are available in the Further Exploration section below.
Figure 8. Cities using the Doughnut to guide development.
(Credit: DEAL)
Grenoble, France
Grenoble, France
Grenoble has placed the Doughnut at the heart of its 2040 city vision. It created a Data Portrait to assess how the city is performing across all four lenses (Figure 9), and is now developing a second version in collaboration with every municipal department.
The city also runs internal workshops to build shared understanding and has used Doughnut principles to review strategies in areas like health, climate, and energy, helping align them with a vision of social and ecological wellbeing.
Figure 9. Grenoble’s Data Portrait of Place.
(Credit: DEAL)
Nanaimo, Canada
Nanaimo, Canada
In 2020, Nanaimo adopted Doughnut Economics as a guide for planning. This shaped its 25-year city plan, developed through public consultation. Since then, it has built an action plan and monitoring system, both based on the Doughnut’s principles. Nanaimo has created its own Data Portrait, reshaped to match their own context, called the Nanaimo (Monitoring) Bar.
Figure 10. Residents are using the Doughnut to reimagine Nanaimo.
(Credit: DEAL)
Ipoh, Malaysia
Ipoh, Malaysia
Ipoh is using the Doughnut as part of its regional strategy and is developing a city portrait to guide all its plans. The city has run public events, mentoring sessions, and awareness workshops. Seven demonstration projects are in progress, including eco-tourism, protecting local ecosystems, and mapping a low-carbon food trail.
Figure 11. Collaborating on the Doughnut in Ipoh.
(Credit: DEAL)
No place is fully living in the Doughnut yet, but many are taking steps. Some focus on measuring data. Others start with local projects or policy changes. Often, they do all three.
The Doughnut is not a fixed plan. It’s a way of thinking that helps us meet everyone’s needs within planetary boundaries, seeing that everything is connected. This work isn’t easy. It takes time, money, cooperation, and courage. But it is already happening.
And young people have a role to play. You can ask questions, join community projects, and help shape the place where you live. Living in the Doughnut is something we imagine and create together.
Activity 5.3.8
Activity 5.3.8
Concept: Systems, Regeneration
Skills: Thinking skills (critical thinking, transfer, creative thinking)
Time: varies, depending on option
Type: Individual, pairs, or group
Option 1: Considering the Doughnut and other indicators
Time: 15 minutes
Think about what you learned in this section about cities and regions using the Doughnut Economics model to guide their development. Individually, in pairs or small groups, consider:
How is the way cities are using the Doughnut similar to or different from the indicators you learned about in Section 5.3.7?
What might be the advantages and disadvantages of using the Doughnut at the city level, compared to those other indicators?
Option 2: Data portraits and leverage points
Time: 30
Cities using the Doughnut Economics model often begin by creating a data portrait of place. This includes local information about how well people’s needs are being met (the social foundation) and how far ecological boundaries are being respected (the ecological ceiling). The process brings together data from many different parts of life—like housing, income, biodiversity, air quality, and community participation—and invites the city to ask: Where are we thriving? Where are we falling short?
In systems thinking, we look for leverage points—places in a system where a small shift can lead to big changes (Section S.8). Donella Meadows described 12 types of leverage points, ranked from shallow (like adjusting numbers or rules) to deep (like changing goals or mindsets).
Figure 12. Twelve key leverage points for changing systems.
(Credit: Meadows (1999) from DEAL)
In pairs or small groups, discuss the questions below:
What kinds of insights might a city gain from building a data portrait of place?
How could these insights help the city identify areas of the system that need change?
Look at Figure 12, which shows Donella Meadows’ 12 leverage points. Which types of leverage points do you think are most likely to be revealed by a data portrait? Why?
Are data portraits more likely to support shallow or deep leverage points? Can they help shift goals or paradigms (mindsets)? Why or why not?
Option 3: Doughnut thinking in your school
Time: 45–60 minutes
Note: You will need the worksheet provided with this activity. It is helpful to have that on larger paper, like A3 size.
The four lenses of the Doughnut can help schools make better decisions, just as cities do. These lenses ask us to think locally and globally, socially and ecologically. Watch this short video to see how the Doughnut is used in practice:
Introducing the Doughnut Unrolled and the Four Lenses
Now consider the Doughnut question to your school:
How can our school be home to thriving people, in a thriving place, while respecting the wellbeing of all people and the health of the whole planet?
In small groups, use this worksheet (Figure 13) to:
Place a school initiative or decision (e.g. a food programme, building renovation, learning project) in the centre
Use the four lenses to ask questions about impacts and possibilities
Identify design ideas or changes to the initiative or policy that would help your school better meet the goals of the Doughnut.
Checking for understanding
Checking for understanding
Coming soon!
Further exploration
Further exploration
Presenting Doughnut Economics: Local and Regional Governments in Action - a ca. 20 minute video by DEAL Cities and Regions Lead Leonora Grcheva explaining how cities and regions are starting to use the Doughnut. It shows nine ways they’re getting involved, from small experiments to long-term strategies, and why the model helps them plan for a regenerative future. Difficulty level: easy.
Greater Melbourne City Portrait - an interactive website that explains the Doughnut Economics Model, shows how Melbourne performs, tells the stories of how Melbourne visualises the future, and enables people to see how their initiative could impact Melbourne’s ability to live in the Doughnut. Difficulty level: easy
Cities & Regions: Let's Get Started [4 languages] - This visual guide helps cities and regions begin their Doughnut journey. It explains the four lenses—local-social, local-ecological, global-social, and global-ecological—and offers nine ways to get started, with real examples and useful tools. Difficulty level: medium
Building a Future School - a report from the Swedish design studio When!When! that imagines a new school based on Doughnut Economics principles. Difficulty level: medium
Introducing 'Doughnut Unrolled' and the Four Lenses - a ca. 12 minute video by Kate Raworth explaining how communities can explore what it means to live in the Doughnut. It introduces the four lenses (local-social, local-ecological, global-social, and global-ecological) to frame thinking, and shares ideas for using data, stories, nature, and imagination to shape a thriving future. Difficulty level: easy.
Doughnut Data Portraits: A Methodological Guide - Guidelines and approaches to 'downscale' the Doughnut by creating a Data Portrait (or City Portrait) for your place. Difficulty level: high
A Good Life for All Within Planetary Boundaries - an interactive website that lets you select and compare the environmental and social performance of nearly 150 countries since the early 1990s. Difficult level: medium
Sources
Sources
Doughnut Economics Action Lab. (2022). Doughnut Unrolled: Introducing the four lenses. https://doughnuteconomics.org/tools/doughnut-unrolled-introducing-the-four-lenses
Doughnut Economics Action Lab. (2023, October 5). Presenting Doughnut Economics: Local and Regional Governments in Action [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/cnKTaxBjCA4
Doughnut Economics Action Lab. (2024). Cities & regions: Let’s get started (4 languages). https://doughnuteconomics.org/tools/cities-regions-let-s-get-started-4-languages
Fanning, A.L., O’Neill, D.W., Hickel, J., and Roux, N. (2022). The social shortfall and ecological overshoot of nations. Nature Sustainability 5(1), pp 26-36. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-021-00799-z
Grettve, J. & Hosseini, H. (2024). Building a Future School: A strategy for how to create a learning environment for children based on Doughnut Economics. When!When!. https://heyzine.com/flip-book/fa2af21668.html#page/1
Terminology (in order of appearance)
Terminology (in order of appearance)
Coming soon!
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse