Donut Days At School
A 7-step guide to introducing a 'Donut Day' in your school
Version 1.0 (May 2020)
Story by Isabella Jansen and Pauline Westendorp
Posted by the DEAL Team
Overview
At the Geert Groote School 2 in Amsterdam South we've been having a weekly 'Donut Day' every Friday for students to work on projects, with the community, aiming to tackle two Doughnut challenges in our city 1) the shortage of teachers and 2) the energy transition.
Linking two local real-world challenges that correspond with two dimensions of the Doughnut creates a great foundation for a community-based school project. Students work in groups and combine the talents of everyone in the group and professionals from the community.
You cannot imagine how happy the children were to get out of the class and be able to interact with professionals about a subject they truly care about!
So we've created this 7-step guide to help you create your own Donut Days. And you can see the story of how we did it in A Donut Day Breakfast.
7 steps to make your own Donut Day At School with children
Step 1: Choose a time each week - for example a morning or an afternoon - and a group of students to work with
Step 2: Select two parents who work in the community: one who can manage a class of children, and the other who is able to inspire the class about a subject and has a drive to achieve a sustainable goal.
Step 3: Introduce the subject you choose at a level that the class can identify with. You can do this by simply discussing the subject without explaining it, and let them lead and shape the conversation. That will bring you straight to the level of your group.
Step 4: Investigate your subject by going out into the ecosystem of the wider community, which means going out and exploring the world!
Step 5: Give your project substance by creating a platform for presenting it: a newspaper, website, meeting, Donut Festival, musical, etc. Now ideas can pop up and children will start to flow. There are no limits in what they invent as you can include each initiative in your platform, whether it suits or not. Always stay open and connected to your group of students. Leading the project simply means guiding along the way and having an overview.
Step 6: Inspire, motivate and help children to the next level: by asking questions, trusting their knowledge, and inviting the help of professionals or other grown-ups around them.
Step 7: Come to an end with a boom! Share your successes, as well as your failures, with the community. And inspire others to do their own Donut Days!
Share
Share
This tool is licensed under a Creative Commons BY SA 4.0 license. For full details visit our Licensing Rules. 
-
Story
TEDx Talk celebrating Doughnut Practitioners
A TEDx Talk by Kate Raworth on how changemakers are bringing Doughnut Economics to life
-
Story
Doughnut cottage on tour
Who will show the world the Kate Raworth Dougnut cottage from the exhibition EndLESS Amsterdam?
-
Story
Applying the Doughnut for school development
Strothoff International School is using the Doughnut city portrait methodology to improve sustainability at the school.
-
Story
A Donut Day Breakfast
The story of our Donut Days and our Donut Day Breakfast
-
Member
Nichole Schantz
The University of Bath
-
Member
Meret Nehe
Bremen, Deutschland
I work as a facilitator, mentor and coach in the field of sustainability and systemic innovation. That means I support groups and individuals to contribute to a sustainable future by finding their own strategic path in a socio-ecological transformation. If I am not coaching, writing or reading, I love being outdoors, especially on my bike or on long walks along the waterside at the Weser river in my home town Bremen.
-
Member
George Leith
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada
Have recently undergone a paradigm shift that has resulted in interest in Infinite Banking Concept, Doughnut Economics, Social and Climate Justice.
-
Member
Alison Malisa
Sebastopol, California, United States of America
On a moral mission to redesign the way we teach and think about economics, putting peace, prosperity, regeneration, and wellbeing first.
-
Member
Adolfo Chautón Pérez
Cáceres, Extremadura, España & Marvão, Alentejo, Portugal
I am Spanish, I have a degree in Geography, a Masters in Strategic Territorial Development and have been living betwenn Spain in Portugal, in the frontier since October 2019. Professionally, I have 20 years of experience, always as a freelancer, working in different areas related to the territory: planning, participation, dynamization... For the last 15 years I have been working as a facilitator in territorial innovation and socio-ecological entrepreneurship, both as a facilitator of processes, as a trainer and mentor of social innovation projects or as a writer of several strategic territorial planning projects based on social innovation, both at regional and national level in Spain and internationally. As an independent researcher, I have developed several projects in which the Doughnut Economics model is always one of the strategic components. + info I am currently coordinating the BoraBeirã project in which the "LojaPlaneta" initiative is integrated. [Banner_Embajadora.png] [ ] #EMBAJADORA_ADE https://www.alianzadonut.es/
-
Member
Pauline Westendorp
Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Nederland
I’m Pauline Westendorp, representing the energy community movement in Amsterdam. (Just like you, in Amsterdam or in your own region?) Today, we turn shared energy goals developed by politicians, big industry, academics and the disruptive ideas from communities into practical solutions. They appeal to anyone who seeks change. Energy collectives aren’t new. We’ve been active since 1980’s. But they are gaining public awareness now because of three developments - and one big mistake.......(Please read more in my linkedin ....)
