Beyond growth: using Doughnut Economics to transform Aotearoa’s political economy for the better.
Helene Malandain
My Doughnut Economics journey properly started in 2020 when I came across the work that the city of Amsterdam did: how they used the Doughnut as a framework to bring people from across all the sectors of the economy together to co-design a vision for their city, and how this process offered a springboard for the city’s very first Circular Economy Strategy. It was powerful, it was hopeful, and it made the possibilities of economic transformation very real and achievable! Since then, I have been a champion and advocate of Doughnut Economics as one model (amongst others) that holds an incredible potential to support Aotearoa’s transition to an economy that puts people and planet first.
I highly recommend checking the work of Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL), exploring their resources, and joining their peer-to-peer learning events. Kate Raworth, the UK economist who created Doughnut Economics in 2012, launched DEAL in 2019 as a community of practice and a platform to turn Doughnut Economics from a radical idea into transformative action. Doughnut Economics can be applied in many different ways across government and policy, business and enterprise, schools and education, etc. In this article, I focus on the potential of the model to be ‘adapted’ and ‘downscaled’ to place: putting the principles of Doughnut Economics to practice in a way that is culturally, historically and politically relevant to redesign the economic systems of a particular place, in our case Aotearoa NZ.
Rethinking governance structures, power dynamics and decision-making processes
Most recent polls show that trust in NZ democracy and institutions is declining, with less than half of the population declaring having trust in our Government. (To read more on the topic, check this story on Political Integrity). Beyond contextual reasons such as the cost of living crisis and significant job cuts in the public sector (and significant flow-on effects in the rest of the economy), this erosion in trust may be the symptom of more ingrained systemic issues.
Our current systems are blinding us. Even some of the most educated and well-intentioned leaders don’t seem to be able to imagine beyond them. What is their response to citizens losing trust in our democracy? They seem to get themselves busy designing new strategies to increase ‘political efficacy’, which they define as “citizens’ perception of their level of influence”. So I must ask: beyond their perceived level of influence, how about citizens’ ACTUAL power to influence, shape and create our democracy?
We designed our current economic system and our current democracy. We have the ability and power to re-design them to ensure they are fit-for-purpose. The reasons behind eroding trust and fading civic engagement are much deeper than the ebb and flows of political and economic climate. Many would say our political systems are broken. I’ll take a less extreme - yet alarmed - position in saying that our political systems are serving an economic system that is proven obsolete, unsustainable, and detrimental to people and the planet. They mirror some of the basic principles of capitalism, namely power and resources being concentrated in the hands of a few.
Much has been written on participatory democracy and on the benefits of putting people at the heart of politics, and shifting the power in the hands of citizens. In such systems, trust is not an outcome of a well-played political game; trust is a condition and a foundation for a well- functioning society. In such systems, trust is not ‘perceived’; it’s experienced through actual mechanisms for deliberation and decision. In such systems, trust is not transactional; it is reciprocal.
Putting such ideas into action is of course the hardest part. A few weeks ago, I participated in a gathering organised by DEAL in the City of Bad Nauheim (Germany). This gathering saw 50 of us - people working in local and regional governments all over the world and using Doughnut Economics as a tool for economic transformation - connect, exchange stories, and learn from each other for a couple of days. Each and every one of these people are making economic transformation happen in their place, right now. They shared amazing stories of innovation in terms of citizen participation and local authority governance arrangements. In Bad Nauheim, the Council created thematic steering groups to enable collaboration across Business Units on cross-cutting themes such as climate protection, mobility, and climate adaptation. And when it came to building a shared agreement on what a thriving place may look like, and creating shared responsibility around measuring progress, the City invited a representative sample of local citizens who collaborated on defining such measures. In Grenoble (France), the Council established an interdisciplinary committee of cross-council staff members, who is responsible for data gathering, monitoring and evaluation against a holistic set of KPIs. This set of KPIs reflects and assesses progress towards the City Portrait (read: their vision for a city that is a home to thriving people in a thriving place) as it was co-created through a series of citizens and local stakeholders workshops.
An economy at the service of people and planet - not the other way around
At the heart of Doughnut Economics is a fundamental paradigm shift that the model made more practical and accessible than ever before, by offering a pathway and a tool to create an economy that is distributive and regenerative by design. This is in opposition to the capitalist system that is divisive and extractive by design. Pushing the narrative further, and to make it as plain and compelling as possible: this is about designing an economy that is at the service of people and the planet, not the other way around. This is a narrative that is also championed by the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Aotearoa, who I collaborated with to co-host a webinar during 2024 Global Donut Days (6-9 November 2024).
One of the reasons Doughnut Economics rapidly gained traction internationally after its 2012 launch, is because it just makes a lot of sense to most people - offering a simple visual snapshot of how we should strive to live in a way that meets the essential needs of every person (think ‘social foundations’, human rights and SDGs), while respecting the means of the planet (think ‘planetary boundaries’ and planetary accounting). Since then, many tools have been developed by DEAL and Doughnut practitioners from all over the world to plan, assess, and iterate on strategies and pathways to get there. Each locality has its own unique journey of applying Doughnut Economics as a strategic compass that considers both social foundations and planetary boundaries. Here are a few examples.
Some localities tested the Doughnut on existing projects, as a proof of concept or as a way to deliver value immediately. In Brussels (Belgium), the Doughnut champions led co-enquiries on a series of ongoing architectural and urban projects. In Tomelilla (Sweden), the council is using Doughnut as a workshop tool and decision-making framework in the early planning stages of building a sustainable new school.
Taking this further, a few localities are now using interactive tools to explore possible project scenarios and assess potential impact (positive and negative) on the short, medium and long terms. The first example of such interactive tools was the Cornwall Development and Decision Wheel (England), used for cabinet-level decisions, and that offers a visualisation of potential impact from proposed projects against each social and environmental dimension of the Doughnut. The Regen Melbourne team has also just launched their ‘Impact Visualiser’ widget, to visualise an assessment of a given initiatives social and ecological impact on the Melbourne Doughnut.
Other places started with mapping all their existing plans and policies onto the Doughnut, as a way to bring to life the (so far hidden) interconnectedness of their strategies, and to identify opportunities, overlaps, gaps, and potentially unintended consequences. This includes Barcelona (Spain) and Glasgow (Scotland). '
These are very tangible examples of how Doughnut enables much more informed and holistic decision-making processes that consider both social foundations and planetary boundaries. I have had the privilege to be working as an advisor to the Wellington City Council, alongside my wonderful colleague James Bushell (MOTIF), to consider the potential of Doughnut Economics as a strategic compass to support the delivery of the 2022 Economic Wellbeing Strategy and its vision for Wellington as a “dynamic city with a resilient, innovative and low carbon economy that provides opportunities for all and protects our environment.” We worked from existing Council strategies to draft the first Wellington Doughnut Portrait: focusing on official priorities to agree on targets and measurements for each social and environmental dimension of the Doughnut. This exercise was a proof of concept, and was used as a planning tool during the recent Long Term Plan process. The Sustainable Development Goals were already part of the WCC’s practice and strategic framework; the addition of the Doughnut as a holistic compass helps to put the SDGs into perspective and into action.
Learning from Māori economies
In Aotearoa NZ, our current economic system is characterised by the process of colonisation, and aspects of the Māori economy that have persevered despite repression by ‘colonial- capitalism’ (as defined by Matthew Scobie and Anna Sturman in their book The economic possibilities of decolonisation). As we design for the future, there is much to learn from Māori economic organisation prior to colonisation. For instance, Scobie and Sturman explain that in Māori economies “exchange was based on reciprocal obligations between people and place to maintain and enhance mana and mauri”. Pre-colonial Māori economies were essentially regenerative through the principle of mauri, and distributive through the exercise of mana. I have no expertise or wisdom to expand further on the question, but I highly recommend reading ‘The economic possibilities of decolonisation’; to explore the complex relationship between tangata whenua and capitalism, and how the enduring influence of Māori economies could radically transform Aotearoa’s political economy.
The principles of Doughnut Economics are well aligned with Māori worldview and beliefs, and a few leaders have already explored interpretations of the model from an Māori worldview. I believe the first perspective was by Johnnie Freeland in 2019. That same year, Juhi Shareef of Moonshot:City and Teina Boasa-Dean collaborated to reimagine the Doughnut from a Tūhoe Māori perspective, with the environment as its foundation (inner ring) and social elements on the outer ring. This ‘flipped’ version of the Doughnut positions our ecological foundations in the centre, renamed hā tuamātangi: the Earth’s last breath. Our social wellbeing (or ‘spring of wellbeing’) is depicted as the outer layer of the Doughnut, as humanity thrives thanks to mother earth. The creators of this framework acknowledge that as “the perspective of one Māori person, it obviously doesn’t represent the view of all mana whenua”. Continuing on the place-based approach that I have taken throughout this article, it would be wonderful to see communities self-organise around Doughnut Economics, with leadership from tangata whenua and local authority leaders, amongst many other voices.
Indigenous economies and societies are regenerative and distributive by nature. Indigenous and first people have much wisdom to impart to bring depth to the Doughnut principles and to make it useful and relevant to place, as one way to look back in order to move forward.
Our recent webinar was an opportunity to explore how Doughnut Economics has been applied across Aotearoa. We hosted leaders who are doing incredible hands-on mahi with Doughnut in the Waikato, in Dunedin, in Wellington and on the Kapiti Coast. Over 110 people joined the 60 minute webinar - the energy was fantastic, and participants seemed keen to continue the conversation. There would be many more people applying Doughnut in their own ways across the motu: we’d love to hear their stories, and to offer more opportunities to learn from each other. Could this be the beginning of a Doughnut Community of Practice for Aotearoa?
While we work this one out, here are a few actions you could take immediately:
Call on your Council to report to the SDGs and the Planetary Boundaries
Promote local community events or meet-ups on Doughnut Economics if you have the capacity or platform to do so
Join the Doughnut Economic Action Lab community: whether as an individual, an organization, or a local/regional authority, DEAL has great resources and facilitates peer-to-peer online events for the growing Communities of Practice
Add yourself or your organisation to the NZ ecosystem map of change-agents.
Check out the video about Te Takarangi, the doughnut model from a Tūhoe Māori perspective
Te Takarangi: the doughnut model from a Tūhoe Māori perspective
Helene is an active supporter of WEAll Aotearoa and our collaborator on all things doughnut economics, including our recent webinar ‘How has doughnut economics been applied across Aotearoa?’
