Rough Planet Guide to a future in the Doughnut

Can creative techniques of futuring help us to understand what it means to be within the Doughnut?

Posted by Stefan Persson May, 03, 2023 5 likes

Tomelilla, Skåne, Sweden

Have you ever visited "Den stora munken" (The Great Doughnut)? It´s a great monument in honour of Doughnut Economics, built by farmers in the small town of Onslunda in the region of Skåne, Sweden? You can read more about it in a newly published Rough Planet Guide:

"It’s quite a sight to behold: the sections of the donut most exposed to the sun are made of glass and used as greenhouses, while the other sections are clad in a mix of hay and local clay, serving as storage and housing. The canny observer will note that these buildings seem only to constitute half of a donut… but the structure is actually mirrored below ground, where a massive root cellar is used to store the vegetables, onions, cheese and fruit that the farm produces during the summer and autumn. You can stay at Munken as a working guest."

There is only a small catch. You must wait until 2050. The travel guide is an example of "narrative prototyping", a creative technique of futuring and a way of exploring the possibilities of the times ahead. It´s a result of a research project in the Climaginaries research network. The focus in on visualizing how a zero-carbon region could look like. And Doughnut Economics plays a central role, especielly in the municipality of Tomelilla.

Rough Planet Guide to Tomelilla 2050:
https://guide.zero-carbon-skane.org/places/southeast-the-slow-coast/gamla-osterlen/tomelilla/

You are of course welcome to visit us before 2050. The administration of the municipality is currently exploring different ways to engage with Doughnut Economics and integrate its principles into our strategies, projects, and daily work.

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