Engaging with Business (Past)

Dates: Fridays Oct 7, 14, 21, 28, 2022

Location: On Zoom – 3-5pm UK time, 7-9 AM Pacific Time, 4-6 PM CET

Zoom Information: Once you have registered for this program, please ensure you are signed in to your account and return to this page to access the “Get Your Zoom Link” lesson at the very bottom of the page. You must register separately on Zoom to get your participation codes and reminder emails.

Enrolment: Enrol via Ubiquity University's website

Course Description:

Building on the Foundations of Doughnut Economics lecture series in June 2021, we bring you Doughnut Economics 2.0 – a course that will take you to the leading edge of transformative action around the world, introducing you to innovative Doughnut Economics practitioners in cities, communities and enterprise design.

Kate Raworth and Carlota Sanz will introduce us to the key concepts of Doughnut Economics and strategic thinking behind putting these ideas into practice, and members of the Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL) team will introduce us to practitioners from across the DEAL Community to share their stories and insights of practical action.

This course is an integral part of our MRA (Master in Regenerative Action) and follows the required initial introductory course. If you are interested in enrolling in the degree please submit your information here:Get Started.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the course you should be able to:

• Explain the main concepts behind Doughnut Economics and why they are relevant for the challenges of the 21st century.
• Understand some practical applications of the concepts in the realms of public policy making, grassroots community organising and in the design of business and enterprise.
• Point to examples of people putting Doughnut Economics into practice in various contexts around the world, including both the benefits and challenges putting these ideas into practice.Consider and start designing your own interventions around the ideas of Doughnut Economics, whether in your home life, your community, your work or other.

Course Overview

Week 1 • Intro to DEAL: Concepts and Strategy

Friday 7th October, 3-5pm UK time, 7-9 AM Pacific Time, 4-6 PM CET

Kate Raworth (DEAL’s Co-founder & Conceptual Lead) and Carlota Sanz Ruiz (DEAL’s Co-founder & Strategy Lead)

In this opening session, Kate and Carlota will introduce the Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries along with an overview of the seven ways to think like a 21st century economist – focusing on the power of visual imagery in shaping worldviews. We will also explore emerging strategies for putting these ideas into practice, as Doughnut Economics Action Lab working in collaboration with a worldwide community of changemakers.

Week 2 • Engaging with Cities & Places

Friday 14th October, 3-5pm UK time, 7-9 AM Pacific Time, 4-6 PM CET

Leonora Grcheva (DEAL’s Cities & Region’s Lead) and Andrew Fanning (DEAL’s Research & Academia Lead)

Co-presenters from the DEAL Community

• Ben Geselbracht, City of Nanaimo, Canada
• Ricardo Castro, City of Santiago de Cali, Colombia
• Madeleine Wahlund, Tomelilla Municipality, Sweden

In this session, Leonora Grcheva and Andrew Fanning will introduce how places are engaging with the concepts and tools of Doughnut Economics to help frame the 21st century challenges they face, both socially and ecologically. They will outline DEAL’s approach to ‘unrolling’ the Doughnut for places, discussing conceptual, empirical, and institutional challenges that this raises, and sharing examples of the diverse ways it is being put into practice by local and regional governments worldwide. We will also hear from changemakers who are putting these tools into practice in their own cities and places, learn from their experiences and challenges, and be inspired by their pioneering initiatives.

Week 3 • Engaging with Communities

Friday 21st October, 3-5pm (UK time), 7-9 AM Pacific Time, 4-6 PM CET

Rob Shorter (DEAL’s Communities & Art Lead)

Co-presenters from the DEAL Community

• Immandeep Kaur, Birmingham
• Mona Ebdrup, Aarhus and Copenhagen
• Ana Lavaquial, Rio de Janeiro

In this session, Rob will share how communities are coming together to engage with the ideas of Doughnut Economics at the household, street and neighbourhood scale. Rob will also share how changemakers are connecting at the city, regional and national scale to create communities of practice around the ideas of Doughnut Economics as a powerful convening idea for transformative action in their place. We will hear from Immandeep Kaur, Mona Ebdrup and Ana Lavaquail – changemakers working within these two different community contexts – and we will be introduced to the tools and resources you can use to immediately start introducing and exploring the ideas in your own communities.

Week 4 • Engaging with Business

Friday 28th October, 3-5pm (UK time), 7-9 AM Pacific Time, 4-6 PM CET

Erinch Sahan (DEAL’s Business & Enterprise Lead)

In this final session, Erinch Sahan will explore how Doughnut Economics can be applied to businesses. Erinch will introduce the diverse range of responses of business to the 21st-century challenge of meeting the needs of all within the means of the living planet, providing examples of companies that are working to put regenerative and distributive practice at the heart of their operations. Critically, he will explore how the deep design traits of businesses can help or hinder efforts to pursue regenerative and distributive practices. The design layers of businesses will be explored in some detail – its purpose, networks, governance, ownership, and finance. We will then discuss the way the deep design of business can be transformed, including the changes needed at the industry and broader systems that shape business designs and practices.