Kelsey Van Oost

KATE RAWORTH’S DOUGHNUT ECONOMY

ABSTRACT

The following essay is in overall written on the base of the book written by Kate Raworth, called
Doughnut Economics: Seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist, written in 2017. This
book is an attempt to rethink foundational concepts of economics and to create a new framework
for a sustainable economy that doesn’t depend on infinite growth. In addition, I also used other
references to explore the subject in a broader sense. Before going deeper into the topic of the
Doughnut economy, I will first explain briefly how the Doughnut Economy works. Further in the
text I will go deeper on several topics where I will tackle three interesting and as well three
doubtful aspects about the Doughnut Economy throughout the text (underlined).

WHAT IS THE DOUGHNUT ECONOMY ABOUT?

The Doughnut Economy is a visual framework that Kate Raworth developed for sustainable
development, here she combines the concept of planetary boundaries with the complementary
concept of social boundaries. The inner part of the circle, (social foundation) shows us the inner
limit, it represents the basic needs for any human being in order to live a normal life (hunger, thirst,
illiteracy, etc.). Which is derived from the social priorities in the UN Sustainable Development Goals
in 2012.

The outer part of the circle shows us nine dimensions of the environmental ceiling that we should
not cross in order to preserve our environment from degradation (climate change and biodiversity
loss). Derived from the planetary boundaries set out by Rockström et al in 2009. Between those two
rings is the doughnut itself, the space in which we can meet the needs of all by respecting what the
planet can “offer and handle”. Further on Raworth gives us an interesting perspective about the
power of visual framing, and how we can use it to transform twenty-first-century economic
thinking, which I will explain further in the text.

 Kelsey Van Oost

The systems, (which you can find on the graphic above and below) have held the planet together
throughout the holocene (the time since the end of the last major glacial epoch, or ice age).
Nevertheless since we, our civilization, had arrived on this planet, we managed to cross at least four
boundaries (graphic below). This is where Raworth managed to put the systems that regulate the
state of the planet together in a single graphic. This is interesting because this image can help us to
understand what the planetary boundaries are and how they relate to each other. To tackle the
challenge on how we can achieve a world where both the people and the planet can thrive in
balance, Kate Raworth proposes seven ways of thinking that could help us be better towards our
planet.

Kelsey Van Oost

SEVEN WAYS TO THINK LIKE TWENTY-FIRST-CENTURY ECONOMIST

Kate Raworth explained seven mind-shifting ways in which we can all learn to think like twenty-
first-century economists. By revealing the old ideas that have entrapped us and replacing them with
new ones to inspire us, it proposes a new economic story. In this graphic you can see below she puts
the old economical models next to the new ones.

The first one and probably the most important one is to change the goal. For over 70 years
economics has been fixated on GDP (Gross Domestic Product) as its primary measure of progress.
For example in 2014, G20 leaders pledge to grow their economies by 2.1%. For the twenty-first
century a far bigger goal is needed, meeting the human rights of every person within the means of
our life-giving planet. The interesting fact here is that she managed to find a clear visual framework
that brings all the systems together. Furthermore, how she explained that the use of visual graphics
is very important to get people to understand this, is I think a good point she makes. In this she
states that it’s almost impossible to change people minds about the contemporary mindset about
economism by doing it with the same or old techniques. And it’s right there that you have to look
beyond the existing, traditional and create a new one.

 Kelsey Van Oost

DESIGN TO DISTRIBUTE

The fifth way is Design to Distribute. Here she compares ‘design to distribute’ with the story of
Kamkwamba and it’s windmills. It’s about on how much more Kamkwamba could achieve If he
would have had access to the internet or could afford to go to a school. He went to the local library,
read a textbook on energy, and found a way to build his own windmill to provide the village with
energy. I think by using this story it's a good way to show us how much more we could achieve if we
would ‘cure’ inequality. Thus by the use of these wonderful concepts like cradle to cradle, open
source, peer-to-peer, etc. This because it gives the importance of inequality more depth to the
concept of the doughnut economy.

“'Don’t wait for economic growth to reduce inequality – because it won’t. Instead, create an economy
that is distributive by design.” - Kate Raworth, 2017

The Kuznets Curve which you can see on the left supports
this quote above. Further on Kate Raworth tackles the
inequalities that this world is facing right now, for
example, as of 2015 the world’s richest 1% now own
more wealth than all the other 99% put together.

CREATE TO REGENERATE

Here i will deepen more into the topic of a regenerative city and later compare it to the city of
Amsterdam which also uses the Doughnut Economy as it's economic model. Here Amsterdam states
that the Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries can be turned into a city-scale tool by asking
the very 21st century question:

“How can our city be a home to thriving people in a thriving place, while respecting the wellbeing of all
people and the health of the whole planet.?”

In this chapter Kate Raworth also brings forth the topic of a generous/regenerative city. The aim is
to work with and within the cycles of the living world. Be a sharer, repairer, regenerator, steward.
Reduce travel, minimize flights, be climate and energy smart. In addition, this city consists of
rooftops that grow food, gather the sun’s energy, and welcome wildlife. The Pavements absorb
water who slowly release it into water reserves. The buildings that isolate carbon dioxide, cleanse
the air, treat their own wastewater, and turn sewage back into rich soil nutrients. These aspects are
than connected in an infrastructural web that is woven through with wildlife corridors and urban
agriculture. Such design possibilities arise out of regenerative, not degenerative, questions.

This is where Amsterdam comes in as a good example that looks for a way to be a generative city.
Here they took the visual of the Doughnut Economy and adapted it to the city of Amsterdam. This
by setting targets for the city to try to get into the middle of the donut, or the safe and just space for
humanity and the planet.

Kelsey Van Oost

This is one of the parts about the Doughnut Economy where I had some doubts, this because the
model is designed to use as an analytical tool solely for the city. Therefore it misses an opportunity
for cities to come together and create a decision making between cities instead of only in the city.

THREE FINAL QUESTIONS

1. How can the doughnut be used on a local scale? 

2. If we, the humans are the problem/cause of all these problems, then how can a framework
made by a human person help us to ‘save’ the world?
3. On the other hand, if scientists could define our planet’s boundaries, could they also give the
road map to guide us out of our current crisis?

CONCLUSION

Although she brings us hope for a better future, we can’t deny that globalism is already here.
Hunger, poverty,.. to say at it worst, the world is ending, with this I don’t mean we need to stop
‘saving’ the world but be more realistic about this, not utopian. Look at today, left, right, up and
down, and try all your best to change these things that are all around us. That doesn't mean that
world will suddenly be in this ‘safe’ space if we all just ‘adapt’ the model to the cities. It means that
we will be a better person towards the world.

 Kelsey Van Oost

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Raworth, K. (2018). Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist (Illustrated). Chelsea Green
Publishing.
thepacker.com. (n.d.). Retrieved October, 2022, from https://www.thepacker.com/opinion/breaking-boundaries-science-
our-planet-and-your-approach-sustainability
Lazard, O. (2022, February 15). Can Cities Use the Doughnut Model to Hack Liberal Democracy? Carnegie Europe. https://
carnegieeurope.eu/2022/02/15/can-cities-use-doughnut-model-to-hack-liberal-democracy-pub-86368
Amsterdam City Doughnut. (n.d.). DEAL. Retrieved October, 2022, from https://doughnuteconomics.org/stories/1
Connecting Makers and Designers. Retrieved October, 2022. Distributed Design Platform. https://distributeddesign.eu/
Raworth, Kate. (2012). A safe and just space for humanity: Can we live within the doughnut. Oxfam Policy Pract. Clim.
Change Resil.
Politudes, T. (2020, October 28). Book Review: Doughnut Economics: 7 ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist by Kate
Raworth. Social Canada Social. https://socialcanada.org/2020/10/28/book-review-doughnut-economics-7-
ways-to-think-like-a-21st-century-economist-by-kate-raworth/