
Creating City Portraits
An earlier methodological guide for downscaling the Doughnut to the city (newer version available)

NOTE FROM DEAL (April 2022): We have substantively updated this methodological handbook and incorporated it into a wider set of 'Doughnut Unrolled' tools for applying the ideas of Doughnut Economics to your place.
DEAL is keeping this legacy tool available on our platform for archiving but it will not be updated.
For DEAL's latest guidance on selecting targets and indicators, please use the Doughnut Unrolled: Data Portrait of Place tool (available in English, French, German, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese).
Version 1.1 (February 2021)
* También disponible en español abajo (PDF) *
* 下面也提供葡萄牙语(PDF) *
* Também disponível em português abaixo (PDF) *
Overview
The DEAL Team collaborated with Biomimicry 3.8, C40 Cities and Circle Economy – through the Thriving Cities Initiative – to create the City Portrait methodology, and pilot the approach in Philadelphia, Portland and Amsterdam.
We created this methodological guide available as a PDF below with accompanying supplementary spreadsheet, which was published in July 2020 (with Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese translations published in February 2021).
Acknowledgements
The City Portrait methodology was conceptualised by Kate Raworth of Doughnut Economics Action Lab and Janine Benyus of Biomimicry 3.8, and this methodological guide was written by Andrew Fanning, Olya Krestyaninova, Kate Raworth, Jamie Dwyer, Nicole Hagerman Miller, and Fredrik Eriksson.
The methodology was greatly enriched by comments from colleagues and advisers including: Julia Lipton, Tom Bailey, Josh Alpert, Elvia Rufo Jimenez, Zach Tofias, Cécile Faraud, Mehrnaz Ghojeh, Chantal Oudkerk Pool, and Krisztina Campbell from the C40; Ilektra Kouloumpi, Annerieke Douma, Max Russell, and Jurn de Winter from Circle Economy; Paul van Schaik from Integral Institute; Ieva Rozentale from Mindworks; Philip Vergragt, Manisha Anantharaman, Halina Brown, and Christoph Rupprecht from SCORAI; Anne Owen from the University of Leeds; Kate Meyer from the Planetary Accounting Network; Nicolas Esposito, Haley Jordan, and Helena Rudoff from The City of Philadelphia; Kyle Diesner and Amanda Watson from The City of Portland, Oregon; Eveline Jonkhoff and Juan-Carlos Goilo from the City of Amsterdam; Christoph Gran and Tabea Waltenberg from ZOE Institute; Laure Malchair from Co-Create; Philippe Roman and Geraldine Thiry from ICHEC; Francesca Zecca from the University of Edinburgh; and Carlota Sanz and Rob Shorter from Doughnut Economics Action Lab.
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Greater Melbourne City Portrait
Celebrating Global Doughnut Day by launching the City Portrait for Greater Melbourne!
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Lincoln DEAL event
In June 2023, as part of Great Big Green Week, Lincoln held an inclusive event to start an open Doughnut discussion.
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WS the 4 Doughnut Lenses in Complexo da Penha, RJ
Experience Report of the Doughnut Workshop conducted in Penha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Barcelona's Data Portrait: re-rolling the donut
We present here the main results for the 4 lenses of our re-rolled doughnut
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Methodological Insights on BCN data portrait
We explore here how we have calculated the 4 lenses of our rerolled doughnut and share some tips for future applications
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The Doughnut Journey in Barcelona - workshops
Here we present in detail the series of workshops and debates done in 2022 for the Barcelona city donut process.
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Donut Brasil bursts into life!
Connecting diverse communities of practice around the idea and principles of the Donut
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Neighbourhood Doughnut Portrait Launch
We're excited to introduce you to the first Neighbourhood Doughnut Portrait, painted by many people together in Ladywood
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Member
Cizar Bachir Brahim
Stockholm, Sweden
I'm an academic, entrepreneurs and passionate with the UNSDGs, circular economy and circular innovation. I'm the author of: The Colony of Innovative Startups: A Practical Guide for Policymakers and Corporate Leaders
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Member
Patrizzia Rocha
Lisboa, Área Metropolitana de Lisboa, Portugal
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Member
michael burns
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Member
Lauren Stabler
Cambridge, England, United Kingdom
I'm a member of CamDEAG, a community action group downscaling the doughnut in Cambridge England. I'm especially interested in discussing our plans to develop the 'Cambridge Doughnut' into an online, digital interactive. Would be curious to hear from others looking to do something similar. For members in low- and middle-income countries, we're looking to collaborate and share your stories as audio files in our digital doughnut, so Cambridge residents can better understand the global impact of our local economy. Always open to new forms of collaboration.
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Member
Carolina Tomaz
Brazil
I'm part of the Donut Brasil network, and together we are experiencing the tools and knowledge of the Doughnut Economics in many projects and in the Latin America and Brazil contexts. I describe myself as a XXI century economist, who adopts systemic and transdisciplinary thinking, and understands the world as a complex socio-ecological system. My goal is to work with regenerative projects for the development of inclusive, intelligent, and sustainable cities and communities. I have been particularly interested in applying the Doughnut economy model for cities, business and organisations. I have experience with projects planning and management, structuration and implementation of new governance models, and group's facilitation collaborative methods to co-create more effective and sustainable solutions for social problems.
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Member
Cathy Little
Grey Highlands, Ontario, Canada
I'm a second-term Councillor with the Municipality of Grey Highlands, a geographically large, rural municipality with a population of 10 000+. My responsibilities include Community and Economic Development Liaison, Economic Development Advisory Committee Member and Conservation Authority Board Member. My personal experience and professional life led me to Doughnut Economics. I am excited to learn and share with my community.
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Member
Alexa Zerkow
Malmo, Skåne län, Sweden
A changemaker on a mission to realize equitable food systems that honor the interconnectedness between healthy people, food quality, and environmental vitality.
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Member
Amandine Sabourin
Brussels, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale - Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, Belgium
Researcher on public policies of cooperation and development, I now advocate for local governments active in decentralised cooperation. Interested to applying the doughnut to the local level!