Doughnut Economics MK

An MK Doughnut Economics Action Group?

Following the fun, entertaining and successful Doughnut Economics (DE) Workshop on 23rd October (a big THANK YOU to Rob Shorter from the DE Action Lab), Transition Town MK wants to set up a DE Action Group.  

What did we learn?

  • How thin the doughnut (i.e. the safe area between planetary boundaries and meeting social needs) is
  • How much collective knowledge we have about our borough – its challenges and its strengths
  • How we can use that collective knowledge to create a model for our borough
  • How we can quickly come up with ideas on where we want to take this.  

We also learned that we have more technical issues to overcome – so apologies to those on Zoom.  

Some outcomes from the workshop

We collectively brainstormed the social deficiencies, the areas where planetary boundaries are exceeded, what exists that supports the “doughnut” and blue-skied some no-limits ideas for Milton Keynes (and beyond).  This list is likely to be incomplete given the no-pen, no-paper, no-powerpoint context in which it was developed, but it’s still a good starting point.

Proposed next step

Meeting online (Zoom) on 2nd December at 19:30 to discuss the Action Group’s remit and future direction.  
Please email doughnuteconomics@transitiontownmk.org with a yes or a no or any comments, so that a Zoom link can be sent out.  

Why Doughnut Economics

The Doughnut Economic model, developed by the economist Kate Raworth, has two limits to economic activity – meeting social needs and living within planetary boundaries. Given that many solutions to our ecological crises (greenhouse gases, water scarcity, soil erosion and impoverishment, biodiversity loss, air pollution, etc.) are expensive, we need to ensure that our responses do not create greater social injustice. Whatever plans come out of central government to deal with our crises, the specific issues facing our area also need to be taken into account; we need our own discussions on what sustainability and resilience look like for our borough and how to get there.

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