This document provides an overview of the Doughnut Design for Business workshop. The workshop is a 4-part, half-day process to help businesses generate transformative ideas to become more regenerative and distributive. It involves mapping how a business impacts the social and planetary boundaries, envisioning ambitious regenerative and distributive ambitions, analyzing how the current business design helps or hinders these ambitions, and redesigning the business to unlock its potential. The workshop addresses how businesses can realign their purpose, networks, governance, ownership and finance to transform how they operate and create value.

1. Doughnut
Design for
Business
Purpose
Networks
Governance
Ownership
Finance
How does the
design of your
business block
transformative
action?
How could a
redesign of your
business unlock
transformative
action?
DEAL’s guide to
redesigning
businesses
through
Doughnut
Economics
- Core workshop
doughnuteconomics.org/tools/191

2. 2
A compass for human prosperity

3. Humanity is living dangerously out of balance

4. 4
Malawi China
goodlife.leeds.ac.uk
UK USA
Every nation must transform

5. Lao Republic of Korea
India
https://goodlife.leeds.ac.uk
Every nation must transform
Australia

6. To change
the future,
change the
dynamics
Regenerative
Working with and within the
cycles of the living world
make
take
use
lose
regenerate
biological
materials
restore
technical
materials
Degenerative
Running down Earth’s
life-supporting system
make
take
use
lose
6

7. Landscape degradation Zero deforestation Landscape restoration
Built-in obsolescence 100% recyclable Repair & modular design
Sustainable
Degenerative Regenerative
7

8. To change
the future,
change the
dynamics
Distributive
Sharing opportunity and value
with all who co-create it
Divisive
Capturing opportunity and value
in the hands of a few
8

9. Aggressively enforced patents Technology partnerships Open source design
Poverty wages Living wage Living wage and profit share
Inclusive
Divisive Distributive
9

10. DEGENERATIVE

11. 11
To change
the future,
change
the
dynamics
Regenerative
Working with and within the
cycles of the living world
make
take
use
lose
regenerate
biological
materials
restore
technical
materials
Degenerative
Running down Earth’s
life-supporting system
make
take
use
lose

12. regenerative
practices
Open modular design - Fairphone
Circularity of materials - Houdini
An economy that
works with and within
the cycles of
the living world Factory as Forest - Interface
Closing biological loops - Sanergy

13. 13
To change
the future,
change
the
dynamics
Distributive
Sharing opportunity and value
with all who co-create it
Divisive
Capturing opportunity and value
in the hands of a few

14. distributive
practices
Fair Tax Mark - LUSH
Supplier commitment – El Puente Employee ownership – Richer Sounds
Community-focused tourism - FairBnB
Sharing opportunity
and value with all
who co-create it

15. 15
Regenerative Distributive
Degenerative Divisive
Commons
& communities
Public services
NGOs &
charities
What’s possible
with current
business design
Business
as usual
designed to
maximise
margins and
dividends

16. Commons
& communities
Public services
NGOs &
charities
16
Regenerative Distributive
Degenerative Divisive
Business
as usual
designed to
maximize
margins and
dividends
Business
redesigned
to unlock
regenerative &
distributive
possibilities

17. Landscape degradation Zero deforestation Landscape restoration
Built-in obsolescence 100% recyclable Repair & modular design
Sustainable
Degenerative Regenerative
17

18. Aggressively enforced patents Technology partnerships Open source design
Poverty wages Living wage Living wage and profit share
Inclusive
Divisive Distributive
18

19. Regenerative Distributive
Degenerative Divisive
What can block transformative ideas?
rigid financial targets
outdated processes
short-term thinking
culture of hierarchy
What can unlock transformative ideas?
broad perspectives
culture of courage
long-term thinking
suspending practicality
19

20. Visualise a thriving future economy
It is regenerative and distributive by
design - and your business is part of it.
What has your business started doing?
What has it now stopped doing?
What would they suggest?
● activists
● junior colleagues
● technical experts
● industry leaders
…
Towards regenerative and distributive business: generating transformative ideas
20

21. Towards regenerative and distributive business: generating transformative ideas
21
What would these many voices say?
Employees?
Local communities?
Customers?
Workers in the supply chain?
Nearby forests and rivers?
The air and soil?
The living planet?
Future generations?
…

22. There are many
effective ways to
start transforming
business. Making the
business
case
Setting new
targets and
metrics
Providing
enlightened
leadership
Exerting
public
pressure
22

23. We should introduce
refillable perfume bottles –
but bringing consumers on
board needs investment, and
the payback period on that
capital expenditure is too
long.
ex-senior executive,
major footwear brand
senior executive,
major beauty brand
head of innovation,
major clothing brand
I’ve been asked to create
a range of regenerative
clothing – while being
expected to deliver the usual
15% profit margins from the
outset. Impossible.
We prototyped an
expandable shoe – it was
going to be profitable, but
wouldn’t have hit our usual
margins, so we dropped it.
23

24. Purpose
Networks
Governance
Ownership
Finance
This is the deep
design of business -
as inspired by author
& theorist Marjorie
Kelly.
How many benefits
can we generate
through this
enterprise?
How much value
can we extract
through this
enterprise?
Degenerative
and divisive
Regenerative
and distributive
24

25. Purpose
Networks
Governance
Ownership
Finance
Degenerative
and divisive
Regenerative
and distributive
25
Profit driven business Purpose driven business
Example Manos del Uruguay
Purpose
Why does this
business even
exist?
What purpose does
it serve in the
world?
How is that
purpose manifest in
its operations?
How is that
purpose manifest in
its products or
services?

26. Purpose
Networks
Governance
Ownership
Finance
Degenerative
and divisive
Regenerative
and distributive
Collaborative partnerships
Example El Puente
26
Extractive relationships
Tax avoidance
Commodified relationships
Regressive lobby groups
Networks
What relationships
does the business
hold - with its
customers,
suppliers, staff,
governments,
communities and
partners?
What new
connections does it
need to create?
What outdated
relationships must
now be left behind?

27. Purpose
Networks
Governance
Ownership
Finance
Degenerative
and divisive
Regenerative
and distributive
Example Riversimple
Governance in service of finance
27
Governance in service of purpose
Governance
Who is on the
board, with a voice
in decision-making?
What are the
company rules and
culture?
What are the
metrics of success?
How openly are
annual accounts
reported?

28. Purpose
Networks
Governance
Ownership
Finance
Degenerative
and divisive
Regenerative
and distributive
Example Patagonia
Extractive ownership
28
Generative ownership
Private equity
Stock market
Venture capital
Ownership
Who owns the
business?
What are their
interests and
expectations?
To what extent can
the owners change
or undermine the
intended purpose of
the business?

29. Purpose
Networks
Governance
Ownership
Finance
Degenerative
and divisive
Regenerative
and distributive
Example The Body Shop and
Plastics for Change partnership
Finance serving financial returns
29
Finance serving purpose
Finance
Where does finance
come from, and
what does it
demand?
What are the
margin and
dividend
expectations?
What are the rules
on reinvestment &
profit allocation?
What’s considered
a fair return for
investors?

30. Purpose
Networks
Governance
Ownership
Finance
- aligning internal processes with business purpose
- enabling new partnerships and engaging stakeholders
- channelling investment into transformative ideas
- locking-in legacy and protecting mission
- becoming regenerative and distributive by design
Benefits of redesign
30
Supply chain security
Product design
process
Fresh innovations
Protect mission / legacy

31. Explore impacts and
dependencies based on the
dimensions of the
Doughnut.
Canvas 3
Current business
design
31
Identify changes in your
business design to enable
your transformative ideas.
Canvas 1
Rapid Doughnut
mapping
With these ideas in mind,
explore how the current
design of your business is
blocking or enabling you.
Canvas 4
Future business
design
1 3 4
A four-part, half-day workshop to produce groundbreaking ideas.
Canvas 2
Regenerative and
distributive ambitions
Create the most ambitious
and transformative ideas
that allow your business to
become regenerative and
distributive.
2
Core workshop: 4 to 5 hours
Doughnut Design for Business
Rapid Doughnut
Mapping
Regenerative &
distributive ambitions
Know your business
design
Redesign your
business
Canvas 5
Business redesign
story
Then summarise your
Doughnut story of business
redesign.

32. • Centre for Economic Transformation, Amsterdam
• 200 Million Artisans
• Accelerate2030
• Also Festival
• Basel Area Business & Innovation
• Bold Foundation Switzerland
• Bristol Green Capital Partnership
• British Retail Consortium
• Change Makers Magazine
• Coest
• Ecosystem Incubator
• Employee Ownership Association
• FLO’s Oxford
• Good Market
• Impact Hub Basel
• Impact Hub Kings Cross
• Purpose Capital New Zealand
• Purpose Economy
• Social Enterprise UK
• Start-up Foundation Finland
• The London School of Economics and Political Science
• Ubiquity University
22 pilot
workshops

33. Doughnut Design for Business
✔ start-up incubators
✔ business networks
✔ founders
✔ intrapreneurs
✔ trade unions
✔ consultants
✔ think-tanks
33
Who might use it?
✔ accelerator programmes
✔ impact investors
✔ business schools
✔ community groups
✔ NGOs
✔ … anyone able to engage
businesses in their deep design

34. Identify impacts
Example of a
consumer
goods
company
Contribute to community
projects
Community water
shortages
Supply chain risks GHG emissions in
transport
Selling healthy
nutritious food
Biodegradable
packaging
Low wages in supply
chain
Fertilizers in crop production
Creating good jobs
Intense irrigation
Drought risk
Political instability
Equal pay policy
Organic production
Truck transport
emissions
Canvas: Rapid Doughnut mapping 34

35. Factories
se uester
car on
Discharged
water is cleaner
than input
Discontinue
harmful pro uct
lines
10 year supplier
contracts with
social outcomes Prices pai to
suppliers enable
double li ing wage
Profit sharing
with employees
Only use
li e-friendly
chemistry
Near ero
margins for
essential
products
Generate
transformative ideas
Example of a
consumer
goods
company
Canvas: Regenerative and distributive ambitions 35

36. Canvas: Current business design
Purpose
Networks
Governance
Ownership
Finance
Degenerative
and divisive
Regenerative
and distributive
Deep design model
Current business design
Which aspects
still block
our most
transformative
ideas?
Which aspects
can unlock
our most
transformative
ideas?
Main
blockers
Main
enablers
Transformative
ideas
36

37. Canvas: Current business design
Purpose
Network
Governance
Ownership
Finance
Degenerative
and divisive
Regenerative
and distributive
Deep design model
Current business design
Example of a
consumer
goods
company
Supplier relationships focus on low prices and lack
long-term commitment needed or deep partnership.
Only in estors represented on the board - no oice of
impacte sta ehol ers.
High margin an divi end goals limit high social and
ecological impact actions and exclude projects that achieve
lower margins or returns.
Management and board o require impact reporting
alongsi e financial.
Acti ely support capital investment in high return pro ects
that ha e ecological/social impact.
Employee share ownership plan means some employee oice
at shareholder meetings.
Main
blockers
Main
enablers
Pay suppliers
enough to ena le
beyond li ing wage.
In est so factories
can sequester
car on.
Transition to
li e-friendly
chemistry.
37

38. Canvas: Future business design
Regenerative
and distributive
Redesign your business
to enable transformative ideas
Proposed change How to implement
How it helps
Governance
Purpose
Networks
Ownership
Finance
Redesign your
business
Example of a
consumer
goods
company
Long term commitment with prices to enable cost
of sustaina le production.
5 year contracts with min. or er pledge or 10
priority suppliers - prices co ering cost of
sustainable production.
Start with 2 x obser er seats ne t year, with
rotating seat or 5 main suppliers and one for
employee rep.
Employees and main suppliers represented on
board.
Un erstand needs o employees and suppliers for
long-term partnership and impact.
Margin an capital in estment re uirements
lower for iggest social and ecological ideas.
Increase internal in estment in social and
ecological ideas - enable actions that ha e lower
margins.
Prioritise 3 biggest proposals next year to apply
new financial parameters on margins an cape .
Deep partnership with key suppliers - assures
security of supply and ena les social and
ecological goals.
38
Enablers in the current business design
Transformative ideas Blockers in the current business design

39. Canvas: Doughnut redesign story
What should be the main
focus of the business?
What are the most
transformative regenerative
and distributive ideas the
business needs to pursue?
What should be redesigned to
enable these ideas?
Business
Date
Team
write your
story on the
Why
How
What
39

40. Doughnut
Design for
Business
Purpose
Networks
Governance
Ownership
Finance
How does the
design of your
business block
transformative
action?
How could a
redesign of your
business unlock
transformative
action?
DEAL’s guide to
redesigning
businesses
through
Doughnut
Economics
- Core workshop
doughnuteconomics.org/tools/191