This article first appeared in our COP29 special issue of My Green Pod Magazine, published 06 Nov 2024. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
Main image: Tri-color Coalition’s Global Donut Day workshop in Mexico City
If we are to be the change we want to see in the world, then the world that Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL) wants to see is shaped by local community action that is globally connected.
This connection builds and solidifies a sense that we are all part of a global story of change, a story that says a different world is possible – and it’s popping up everywhere.
That vision of change is the reason behind this year’s Global Donut Days (06-09 November 2024) central theme: ‘local action, global connection’.
Brought together by DEAL, and in collaboration with practitioners from around the world, Global Donut Days is a multi-day, community-led festival to be held both online and in person around the world.
It is a moment in the year to celebrate and inspire the global DEAL Community to take the next step locally and connect globally to create a belief that, in the face of climate and ecological breakdown, social injustice and inequality, a different future is possible.
Doughnut Economics is an invitation to explore an economic mindset that is fit for our complex and rapidly changing 21st-century world.
Global Donut Days are made truly global by the groups of Doughnut Economics practitioners that organise local events to celebrate the ideas and accomplishments of progressing Doughnut Economics around the world.
Last year, 26 countries and 56 places participated in Global Donut Day; more than 4,000 people were engaged in over a hundred events in a single day.
The global community of local groups – all working to support people and planet – created a palpable sense of being part of something bigger, and this collective impact was significant.
Building upon this energy, Global Donut Days is a space to showcase the many diverse ways in which people are taking action on Doughnut Economics, sharing the actions and ideas of practitioners via an online global programme and through local events under the theme of ‘local action, global connection’.
Global Donut Days offers a reason to start local action for those who have been meaning to act but are yet to take the first steps.
We will be looking at how people are getting the ball rolling and what tools are available to get started.
It also creates support and inspiration for local organisers to reach new audiences, create new connections, navigate challenges and build community locally.
Running workshops is a popular way to introduce and explore ideas with local audiences. Last year, for example, Mexico City’s Tri-color Coalition ran its Global Donut Day celebration at The School of Design of the National Institute for Fine Arts, working with students and local experts to co-create a shared vision of sustainability based on Doughnut Economics.
Beijing’s Wildbound ran a workshop called ‘Step into the Doughnut’ that allowed individuals to experience the Doughnut in an interactive way while exploring the things we care about in our lives, our communities and the natural world.
Global Donut Days also means supporting the formation of global connections. The event has connected organisers and strengthened relationships across the global community, and this year DEAL has created the infrastructure for peer-to-peer learning and support, which helps local organisers see others and make visible the global community of local action.
There are three main ways for you to participate in Global Donut Days 2024; you can register for the online day on 06 November to hear from and connect with people worldwide taking action on Doughnut Economics.
Alternatively, search for local events to attend between 07 and 09 November for opportunities to connect with people taking action on Doughnut Economics locally.
You can join us online by using the hashtag #GlobalDonutDays and sharing how you’re bringing the ideas of Doughnut Economics to life from where you are. This will help to build a sense that we are all part of a global story of change. We hope you come and join the festivities – everyone is welcome.
About Doughnut Economics and DEAL
The Doughnut provides a blueprint for how humanity could thrive in the 21st century between social and ecological limits.
Kate Raworth’s 2017 book, Doughnut Economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist, explored the economic thinking needed to bring humanity into the Doughnut, drawing together insights from diverse economic perspectives in an engaging and accessible way that everyone can understand.
DEAL is an organisation co-founded as a not-for-profit in July 2019 by Kate Raworth and Carlota Sanz. It exists to support changemakers worldwide – in communities, education, cities and regions, business, government and more – who are turning the ideas of Doughnut Economics into transformative action and aiming to bring about systemic change. The community now consists of over 16,000 people.
Doughnut Economics Action Lab’s Leonora Grcheva on how Doughnut Economics can help local governments address complex crises.
Erinch Sahan, business and enterprise lead at Doughnut
Economics Action Lab, explains why regenerative and distributive enterprise design is the next frontier for business.
Doughnut Economics Action Lab has launched a day to celebrate local action and global connection through Doughnut Economics.
Rob Shorter, communities and art lead at Doughnut Economics Action Lab, shares what happened when Leeds got a taste of the Doughnut.
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