Risk, Sustainability and the Doughnut

Reintroducing externalities

This project is exploring more complex modelling using the Doughnut as a high-level framework. We are exploring this type of rigorous application through two research collaborations. The first, with the University of Melbourne and University of Sydney, is to focus on the Doughnut as a ‘boundary object’ that bridges understandings of risk and sustainability, which are related fields but often held separately in technical contexts. The second exploration, with Melbourne Business School, is considering a system dynamics modelling approach that can capture interdependencies in decision-making at a whole-of-city scale. Both approaches respond to the Doughnut’s holistic nature and the ways in which it seeks to remove ideas of ‘externalities’ that are too often considered outside of the bounds of narrower decision-making approaches.