Speaker
Description
Heterodox economics is an umbrella for a plethora of economic approaches (e.g. Austrian economics, Institutional economics, ecological economics, Feminist economics, etc.) that is attempting to offer alternative economic policies to the mainstream economics model. The latest developments in the science behind environmental and climate change have demonstrated a failure of the mainstream economics model to offer strategies and policies to circumvent and revert such issues. Recently, Oxford economist Kate Raworth has produced The Doughnut Economics Model that is portraying the economy as a system embedded in the social and ecological models and is based on the Sustainable Development Goals elaborated by United Nations in 2015. The model is based on three rings: the social foundation, the safe and just space for humanity and the ecological ceiling. According to Kate Raworth, the social foundation represents social and basic needs that ought to be addressed to humanity to survive, to ensure a safe and just space for humanity; the ecological ceiling denotes the safe and just planetary boundaries needed to keep our societies and economies in a sustainable model. Its circular shape signifies equilibrium between these dimensions, where the safe and just space for humanity implies well-being for both people and the environment. Everything that is outside these dimensions denotes catastrophic decisions and situations for humanity. The model is fundamented by seven principles. One of the most important principles is the challenge brought to Gross Domestic Product as an indicator of economic growth, whilst prosperity can be achieved through meeting the needs of the people and planet. Other principles refer to the interdependence of economies, societies and the environment and the need to address economic and social inequalities in and between countries. This paper investigates the Doughnut Economics model as a heterodox proposal to ensure a sustainable development of our economies and societies and its conceptual and pragmatic implications. This paper attempts to investigate the applications of this model to cities like Amsterdam, Leeds and Melbourne and extends this analysis to Romanian cities like Sibiu.
