Peter Lefort discusses his work on the Exeter Doughnut project, which uses Doughnut Economics to explore and expand upon the socioeconomic opportunities the city of Exeter has to offer. Bridging Communities funding was used to develop this project, encouraging conversation between a range of local stakeholders.
The Exeter Doughnut evolved out of the Exeter Living Lab, a collaborative space for members of the university, community, and local organisations to come together to better understand Exeter as a live system of complex interrelationships. As the infrastructure support for the Living Lab ended, the Exeter Doughnut emerged as a new way to hold a holistic lens over the city, bringing together multiple stakeholders with different but aligned aims. This is informed by the idea of Doughnut Economics, which provides a framework for sustainable living, looking to balance social and environmental imperatives to create a society that provides for all without damaging the planet.
The first meeting took place in mid-2023, uniting a group of passionate people interested in exploring what the application of Doughnut Economics could look like in Exeter.
After an initial series of popular and engaging events, the group applied for support from the Bridging Communities Fund to continue the momentum built up since May 2023. This helped us to continue increasing access to the ideas and resources of Doughnut Economics, and work with partners across the city to put it into practice.
The Funding supported two strands of work – firstly, using the ongoing community-led research to support the creation of a City Data Portrait for Exeter. This is an approach modelled by cities across the world, supported by the Doughnut Economics Action Lab, which uses diverse targets and indicators to create a holistic ‘portrait’ of your location’s performance. This is informed by factors both local and global, and ecological and social.
A vital part of our application was running sessions with key stakeholders, and we were having some difficulty bringing them together. Our solution was to use the money, and bring in extra funding from the GSI, to run an Exeter Doughnut Economics Gathering. This enabled us to bring everyone together at the same time, and spend two days diving deeply into the energy and potential surrounding Doughnut Economics in Exeter.
An inclusive and equitable approach to the partnership has been core to all of this. The group is genuinely collaborative, and the funding has enabled community members to be paid fairly for their time and expertise in bringing significant value to the project. The Data Portrait work has been entirely community-led, and the Gathering activities were split between group members, with different people taking responsibility for delivering different activities and bringing in different partners.
Running a large event was a big task, but one that brought the group together strongly. We have extensive data, and research topics and questions that are currently being collated into a final report, which will greatly inform the next steps.
The last phase of the funding was to run an additional ‘what next’ meeting, gathering ideas and enthusiasm for where the project could go next. The potential is great, and we have made numerous contacts at the Gathering with other cities and regions who have done impactful work that we could learn from. Further funding will be required to continue to properly resource the diverse skills and experiences of the group. However, we are hopeful that the value and potential of the Doughnut Economics approach has been demonstrated to possible funders, including local businesses and the City Council.