FINDING THE LEWIS "DOUGHNUT"

We should be able to meet the needs of all people, within the means of the planet, right? Surely everyone should be able to have access to the things they need to live a good life, without polluting our oceans, or emitting a million tonnes of carbon, right?

Doughnut Economics is all about rethinking how we live, and rewriting the rules so we can live a more fairly and sustainably. And when you draw it all out, it just so happens you can draw it in the shape of a doughnut / bagel / vada / other culturally appropriate ring-shaped foods.

So neighbourhood doughnut economics is all about thinking, how we can apply that to our homes, our streets and our neighbourhood? How we can meet the needs of all the different people living, working and playing in our neighbourhood, within the means of the little part of the planet that is our neighbourhood? And how we can do that while also respecting and looking after other people on this planet, and the planet as a whole?

Peer-to-peer learning is a different way of learning. It’s all about learning with and from each other, in whatever creative ways we choose. Everyone is the teacher.

So what does peer-to-peer learning look like?

We’ll be a group of between 8-12 people coming together between February and May. Each week, one of us will take the lead, following Kate Raworth’s book to help the whole group to learn about the basic ideas of Doughnut Economics. If that sounds scary, it shouldn’t! You’ll get help to prepare, and you can lead the group to learn in whatever way you feel comfortable. That might mean making something, or getting out and active, or playing a game that helps us to learn about the principle that week. At the same time, the organisations that are supporting these peer-to-peer learning journeys will be putting on loads of talks and “deep dive studio days” to support our learning and connect all the learning journeys together.

And then what?

So we’ve learnt together. Now we will do together! In May and July, we’ll be taking what we’ve learnt and putting into practice in our neighbourhoods. As individuals, we’ll each be exploring and experimenting with something that makes us really curious about bringing the doughnut to our doorstep. We’ll still meet up regularly to share how our experiments are going.

To give you an example, I’m a filmmaker and I really like making films to reflect ideas that i’m exploring. So I’m going to experiment with how we can use filmmaking to see new/existing and better/different things for our community and our local environment.

It is free to take part.  We’ll start on the 12th and 13th February, and you’ll have to be able to commit to doing a minimum of about 4-5 hours per week (up to 8 hours max) between February and July. This includes reading(or listening) and a little (supported) research, taking part in a two hour weekly peer-to-peer online/in-person session, and designing and doing your own experiments. We’ll have a break over August and come back together in September to celebrate everything we’ve achieved.

I mentioned it before, but we’re one of many peer-to-peer learning journeys happening in the UK and beyond. Sometimes, we’ll all be getting together in Birmingham and at the end of the learning journey we’ll all be taking part in a showcase. If you’re worried about travelling to Birmingham, whether it’s the cost, or because you have caring responsibilities, or because you’re shielding, we’ll do what we can to support you still taking part. So, don’t let it put you off.

So to summarise, the key dates for the peer-to-peer learning journey are:

• Getting started weekend | 12th & 13th February | in Birmingham. You don’t have to attend this and we’ll make sure that you get to participate in some way online or at a Lewis event.
• Weekly peer-to-peer sessions | Provisionally Tuesdays 6-8pm | online/somewhere around Lewis (we’ll figure out what works best for everyone taking part and possibly rejig the day and time to suit)
• Showcase | 23rd & 24th July | Birmingham

As long as you feel like you have a connection to it, and are invested in seeing all of the Hebridean islands thrive, then this peer-to-peer learning journey is for you.

All the peer-to-peer learning journeys are being supported and funded by Civic Square, Doughnut Economics Action Lab and Enrol Yourself. They’ve given us lots of training and resources to help host these peer-to-peer learning journeys. You can find more information here.