• Ed Fisher

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While from the purpling east departs

The star that led the dawn,

Blithe Flora from her couch upstarts,

For May is on the lawn.

A quickening hope, a freshening glee,

Foreran the expected Power,

Whose first-drawn breath, from bush and tree,

Shakes off that pearly shower.

? William Woodsworth

My wife and I have visited Amsterdam on several occasions. It is a delightful city with fine museums and pleasurable dining. The Dutch are congenial, open, and democratic. In 2020, the city was the first to embrace what is known as Doughnut Economics. This is named after the 2017 book by British economist Kate Raworth (“Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist”).

According to Raworth, doughnut economics will “act as a compass for human progress,” turning last century’s deteriorating economy into this century’s recovering one. “The compass is a doughnut, the kind with a hole in the middle. Ridiculous though that sounds, it is the only doughnut that actually turns out to be good for us.” In it all have access to life’s essentials such as food, clean water, soil and air, social equity and political voice, while ensuring humanity does not break down Earth’s life support systems, such as a stable climate and fertile soils.

The Doughnut has two concentric rings: a social foundation, to ensure that no one is left behind, and an ecological ceiling, protecting Earth’s life-supporting systems. Beyond the outer ring are dangers kept at bay: climate change; ocean acidification; chemical pollution; nitrogen & phosphorous loading; freshwater withdrawals; land loss; biodiversity loss; air pollution; and ozone layer depletion. Between these two sets of boundaries is both ecologically safe and socially just: a space in which humanity can thrive. Within the donut are water; food; health; education; income & work; peace & justice; political justice; social equality; housing; networks; and energy.

It draws from science, art, economics, psychology, complexity, and ecology. It is not socialism. It is not communism. It is knot untying. A worldwide panacea? No. Many cultures would be better off with this model than simply pursuing GDP growth.

The model includes five basic ideas:

Purpose. Why does the organization exist: what purpose is it in service to? Individuals or organizations?

Networks. What are the organization’s networks? How does it relate to its customers or members, its staff or volunteers, its suppliers, neighbors and allies? Are they aligned with its purpose and values, or are they caught up in a culture that undermines them?

Governance. How is the organization governed? Who makes decisions, and who has voice in those decisions? How is progress towards the purpose measured, and how is that purpose safeguarded when under pressure?

Ownership. Who owns the organization? Who owns the land it is on, the data it generates, the knowledge that it creates, the assets that it holds? Is it owned by a founding entrepreneur or by a family, by shareholders or by the state, by its own employees or by venture capital?

Finance. How is the organization financed? Is it seeking fast and high financial returns, or it is invested in generating social and ecological value, with or without financial return? Is that finance in service to the organization’s purpose, or in service to itself?

How well the Netherlands does with its adoption in Amsterdam remains to be seen. The Dutch have been pragmatic about factors such as climate change, sealing itself from rising sea-levels with dikes, land fills and clean energy. It is clear they thought this through and will carefully monitor results. Good luck to them and those who follow suit.

Ed Fisher writes a weekly column for the Morning Sun.