🎯 Context

Last lesson you used the planetary boundaries model and found two of its biggest gaps: it says nothing about people, and its boundaries are global, so it does not tell a country or a city what to do. This lesson looks at two models that try to fill those gaps. The doughnut adds people to the planetary boundaries, and the circular economy sets out how an economy could work within them. By the end you should be able to describe the doughnut economics model, its social foundation and its ecological ceiling, explain what regenerative and distributive design mean, describe the three principles of the circular economy and how it differs from the linear economy, and compare the uses and limitations of four sustainability models.

The doughnut economics model

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1.3.20 The doughnut economics model is a framework for creating a regenerative and distributive economy in order to meet the needs of all people within the means of the planet.

Consider the doughnut economics model and the concepts of regenerative and distributive design. The social foundation (inner boundary of the doughnut) is based on the social SDGs. The ecological ceiling (outer boundary of the doughnut) is based on planetary boundaries science. Together, the social foundation and the ecological ceiling represent the minimum conditions for an economy that is ecologically safe and socially just—thus, the doughnut is the “safe and just space for humanity”. Today, billions of people still fall short of the social foundation, while humanity has collectively overshot most of the planetary boundaries. Therefore, the goal as illustrated by this model is to move into the doughnut and create an economy that enables humanity to thrive in balance with the rest of the living world. It can only be achieved by making economies that become regenerative and distributive by design. A regenerative economy works with, and within, the cycles and limits of the living world. A distributive economy shares value and opportunity far more equitably among all stakeholders. Example uses and limitations include the following. Uses: The model includes both ecological and social elements, so it supports the concept of environmental justice; it has reached popular awareness and is being used at different scales (for example, countries, cities, neighbourhoods, businesses) to support action on sustainability. Limitations: The model is a work in progress—different groups are trying to apply the model for concrete action; it advocates broad principles of regenerative and distributive practice but does not propose specific policies.

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The doughnut economics model was drawn by the economist Kate Raworth and first published in 2012. It is made of two rings.

• The ecological ceiling is the outer ring. It is the nine planetary boundaries from last lesson. Going beyond it is overshoot.
• The social foundation is the inner ring. It is 12 essentials that every person should have, such as food, water, health, education, housing and a political voice, and it is based on the social goals of the SDGs you met in foundation.3.3. Falling below it, into the hole in the middle, is shortfall.

Between the two rings is the doughnut itself: the safe and just space for humanity. Today billions of people are in shortfall, while humanity has overshot most of the planetary boundaries. The model asks economies to move into the doughnut from both sides at the same time.

That needs two kinds of design. A regenerative economy works with, and within, the cycles and limits of the living world, so that it restores natural systems rather than running them down. A distributive economy shares value and opportunity far more fairly among everyone involved, so that nobody is left in the hole.

The doughnut is not a plan. It does not say which policies a government should choose. It is a picture of the goal, and people are still working out how to apply it.

[1 October 2026]

[1 October 2026]

1. Distinguish between shortfall and overshoot in the doughnut economics model. [2]

2. Explain why the doughnut needs economies to be both regenerative and distributive. [3]

Local example: the Greater Geneva doughnut

Greater Geneva is the cross-border area of about one million people in and around Geneva, on both the Swiss and the French sides. In 2022 researchers at the University of Lausanne drew a doughnut for it, using the method of Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economics Action Lab. They chose 14 indicators and set a target for each one for 2050. Some indicators measure Greater Geneva's pressure on the whole planet, such as its carbon footprint. Others measure local conditions, such as its air and its rivers, or how many of its people live in precarity (without a secure income, home or health).

The portrait was presented to about 100 French and Swiss local politicians in November 2022. In January 2023 they signed the Grand Genève en Transition charter, which sets 10 ecological and social objectives for 2050.

The portrait also shows the model's limits. Six of the 14 indicators had no data, so they could not be measured. The footprint figures rely on data from around 2011, and the researchers say the real values are probably higher. By early 2024 the doughnut had attracted little interest from local businesses or residents.

Sources: Doughnut Economics Action Lab, Greater Geneva City Portrait, 4 March 2024; Gilloots and Rey, Le Donut du Grand Genève: méthode et résultats, University of Lausanne, October 2022.

3. Using the Greater Geneva example, outline one use and one limitation of the doughnut economics model. [2]

4. Suggest why a doughnut drawn for Greater Geneva could be more useful to local politicians than the global planetary boundaries model. [2]

5. Fill in the last column of the table with overshoot, shortfall or cannot tell yet.

The footprint figures are based on data from around 2011. Source: Gilloots and Rey, University of Lausanne, October 2022.

The circular economy

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1.3.21 The circular economy is a model that promotes decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources. It has three principles: eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials, and regenerating nature.

The butterfly diagram from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation is a useful illustration of the circular economy. It is different to the linear economic model (take–make–waste). Example uses and limitations include the following. Uses: Regeneration of natural systems; reduction of greenhouse emissions; improvement of local food networks and support of local communities; reduction of waste by extending product life cycle; changed consumer habits. Limitations: Lack of environmental awareness by consumers and companies; lack of regulations enforcing recycling of products; some waste is not recyclable—technical limitations; lack of finance.

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Most of today's economy is a linear economy: resources are taken from the Earth, made into products, used and thrown away. It is often summed up as take–make–waste. Every new product needs new raw materials, so the more the economy produces, the more finite resources it uses up.

The circular economy is a model that keeps products and materials in use instead. Its aim is decoupling: breaking the link between economic activity and the use of finite resources, so that an economy can keep working without taking more and more from the Earth. It has three principles.

1. Eliminate waste and pollution. Design products so that waste and pollution are never created in the first place.

2. Circulate products and materials. Keep them in use at their highest value: share, repair, reuse and remanufacture first, and recycle only as a last resort.

3. Regenerate nature. Return biological materials safely to the soil, and farm and manage land in ways that rebuild natural systems.

The butterfly diagram from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation shows two cycles. On the left wing is the biological cycle, for materials that can safely return to nature, such as food, wood and cotton. On the right wing is the technical cycle, for materials that cannot, such as metals and most plastics. These have to be kept circulating in the economy, because they do not break down safely if they are thrown away.

[15 May 2025]

[15 May 2025]

6. Distinguish between a linear economy and a circular economy. [2]

7. Using the butterfly diagram, explain why materials in the technical cycle must be kept in use rather than returned to nature. [2]

Local example: Freitag, Zurich

Freitag is a Zurich company that makes bags from used lorry tarpaulins, discarded car seat belts and old bicycle inner tubes, materials that would otherwise be waste. Most of its products are made and sold for many years rather than in seasonal collections.

It tries to keep its products in use for as long as possible. It runs a repair service with free spare parts, rents bags out, and offers exchange and resale. It makes phone cases from worn-out ski boots, and customers can return them to be made into new cases. In 2024 it launched a backpack made from a single type of plastic so that the whole bag can be recycled, and its F-ABRIC clothing line is made to be compostable.

Its best-known products show the limits. A bag made from lorry tarpaulin cannot yet be recycled as a whole at the end of its life. Making that possible is a long-term research project for the company.

Source: FREITAG, Circular economy.

8. Fill in the table with one thing Freitag does for each principle.

9. Using Freitag, outline one limitation of the circular economy. [2]

Comparing sustainability models

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