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Place-based Doughnut Design for Business tool
Workshop for a group of local businesses to engage with Doughnut Economics through a place-based perspective.
Overview
This workshop tool guides facilitators in convening local businesses to run a Doughnut Economics workshop. It helps local business communities identify their most transformative ideas for becoming regenerative and distributive in their strategies, practices and impacts, and then to identify the design changes needed to make this possible.
Below is the tool. You can also view the tool here as Google Slides or download it as a PDF here (or see Downloads section below).
Who is it for?
This workshop is for people bringing together local businesses to engage collectively with Doughnut Economics in a way that is connected to a particular place. For groups or networks with 'Doughnut' or 'Donut' in their name, this is the tool they should use to engage with businesses.
Duration, format and materials
This workshop typically takes between 4 to 6 hours . It allows for flexibility so you can adjust as per your needs!
It is most effective with groups between 10 to 30 people, but can be used with smaller or larger groups too.
The workshop can be held in-person or online. Activity canvases are available in Annex A as both printable pdfs (for in-person) and on Miro (for online workshops). See Annex A towards the end of the slides.
Other DEAL tools for company-level focus
This workshop facilitates a broader group discussions among businesses and does not provide specific action points for individual businesses. For company-level action, see DEAL's Doughnut Design for Business core or taster tool. These other tools can be used by any company for internal reflection, or be facilitated by organisations registered with DEAL (who don't have the term 'Doughnut' or 'Donut' in their name).
DEAL's policy for business
To balance openness with protecting the integrity of the concept of Doughnut Economics, DEAL has created a policy applying to businesses (including consultants in their work with business clients). This policy contains seven main principles:
- Focus on the deep design of business
- No ‘company doughnuts’
- Public facing claims only about redesign of business
- Doughnut and business events must be based on the tool
- Additional guidance welcome but, for now, no new tools related to business
- Share back learnings from using the tool
- Propose case studies of businesses
The annex of this tool contains the parts of this policy that are most relevant to those using this tool. This includes the ask that those using the tool to work with businesses register on DEAL's platform as an organisation and share back insights about the workshop with the DEAL Community. The tool contains additional guidance on how facilitators can share back.
We also invite businesses to propose case studies about their redesign around the goals of Doughnut Economics. To submit a case study, please connect with us through the DEAL contact form, choosing the category 'Tools and Stories' and theme ‘Business and Enterprise’.
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Attachments
This tool is licensed under a Creative Commons BY SA 4.0 license. For full details visit our Licensing Rules. 
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Member
Dilyana Mihaylova
Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom
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Member
Inge Vandijck
Belgium
I am an economist, impact entrepreneur, and consultant with over 20 years of experience working with large organizations in both the public and private sectors. My expertise lies in Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC), where I have provided consulting and training to help organizations navigate complex challenges and achieve their goals. I see sustainability as the core of risk management, where both threats (negative risks) and opportunities (positive risks) are integral to creating long-term value. As John Adams once said, "Every problem is an opportunity in disguise," and this perspective is central to my approach—transforming challenges into opportunities for sustainable growth and resilience. I named my company Bright Phoenix because the phoenix symbolizes resilience and transformation—qualities I help my clients cultivate as they rise to meet today’s challenges. Learning about the doughnut economic model was a true eureka moment for me. As I delved deeper, I realized I’m not alone—several others in the DEAL community have also expressed similar revelations. The model encapsulates my mission: to guide my clients to operate in the sweet middle of the doughnut—within planetary boundaries while respecting societal needs—ensuring their businesses thrive sustainably. What brings me to the DEAL community is this shared vision. I am excited to contribute my experience as a strategist, systems thinker, and storyteller, while learning from others in this inspiring network.
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Member
Paula Cukura
Riga, Latvia
ESG justice activist studying social economy, while working on social innovations' projects with NGOs & universities. ✌️🫶
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Member
Siobhann Mansel-Pleydell
Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Founder of Make It Good which is dedicated to accelerating regenerative futures. Most recently part of the Oxfordshire Doughnut Project Team. Funded by Oxfordshire County Council and hosted by Aspire, the project seeks to accelerate understanding of Doughnut Economics in application across three core work streams - developing a preliminary data portrait as a springboard for engagement, understanding how to move from impact assessment to doughnut-informed Decision Making Wheel, and to consider how to begin to apply these tools to strategic economic planning in Oxfordshire.
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Member
Susan Joy
Brooklyn, New York, United States
I'm a regenerative strategist and regenerative business coach and founder of impact-focused consultancy The Golden Glue. I'm also a steward with the Regenerative Marketing Movement. I have a Masters in Business for Social Impact and Sustainability and my background is in fashion, consumer goods and media. I'm interested in frameworks and approaches that can help businesses of all sizes move from business-as-usual or sustainability-as-usual towards regenerative business models and approaches. I see challenges as opportunities for rethinking and building positive impact loops. I'd love to connect with other practioners and am available for brainstorming and ideation sessions as well as coaching and consulting.
