Regen Sydney - the first bite 🍩

Join us in taking the first bite of the Sydney Doughnut

Right now, Sydney-siders are living through some of biggest economic disruption since the Great Depression. As we struggle through an extended lockdown, we are each facing our own unique challenges depending on where we live and the communities we belong to, yet there are two things we cannot afford to do without: hope and creativity. 

Hope for our city to once more be a thriving place, home to thriving people, and the creativity to reimagine a better way.

So, how might we channel the gravity of this moment, to re-imagine our future story?

By taking a bite of the doughnut, of course!

About the event

Join us on Wednesday, 18th August, 6pm-8pm AEST (via Zoom) to:

• meet the Regen Syd community (70 people & growing)
• explore the incredible work already underway to create a thriving Sydney
• better understand the Doughnut & how to apply it
• contribute your ideas for catalysing the Regen movement across the city
• be the first to access the Regen Sydney Slack channel. 

*Tickets are 'pay as you will' suggested $20*, places capped at 100. Proceeds donated to Weave Youth & Community Services
*Opening & closing sections of the event will be recorded. 
*Breakout room discussions will not be recorded.

What to bring:

• Your favourite doughnut (of course!)
  • order online from our sweet friends at Grumpy Doughnut
• A cup of cheer
• A sense of adventure
• Willingness to contribute & meet others
• Ideas for a regenerative Sydney

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Why now?

The current pandemic and recent bushfire disaster have made the cracks in our systems horribly visible, but these cracks can also open the doorway to rewriting a different story for our city. From the midst of disruption, we have a unique opportunity to rethink, reclaim and redraw the way we define wealth and wellbeing.

Taking inspiration from other cities across the world, over the last six months, the movement to create a regenerative future for Sydney has been quietly baking. 

We've been thrilled to see so many individuals and organisations showing a keen interest in the Regen Sydney movement. Your fellow Regen Syd-ers represent community, academia, public policy, social enterprise, sustainability, management consulting, law, the built environment and creative arts. Now it’s time to come together to get Sydney’s Doughnut rolling - from theory into action - together. 

Yes, but we’re in lockdown...

Precisely! The evening has been designed to restore our sense of community, agency and optimism, amid the incredible challenge of this moment.

Most of us are feeling Zoomed-out at the moment. But together, we have this opportunity to Zoom-in and contemplate the things we value most in our city, beyond our four-walls. 

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What’s the bigger story?

Momentum is gaining in cities around the world to adopt better measures of wealth and wellbeing for their citizens in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. From lockdown in Sydney, we have the opportunity to turn the lens on our city, take stock of where we are and to re-imagine who we are becoming.

Kate Raworth's Doughnut Economic model has been hailed as a "compass for humanity in the 21st Century". Now, cities including Amsterdam, Brussels, Portland and Melbourne are downscaling the Doughnut by developing a City Portrait to guide policy development and service delivery. 

What will Regen Sydney do?

Regen Sydney is a growing movement of citizens and organisations envisioning and enacting a regenerative future for Greater Sydney. We will use the Doughnut model to engage institutions, organisations and individuals to explore better visions for a post-COVID Sydney. 

Our mission is to get Sydney inside Doughnut within a generation - beginning with the creation of a ‘City Portrait’: a selfie of where we are now, and a vision of who we want to be into the future. 

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What on Earth is the Doughnut?

Created by ‘renegade economist’, Kate Raworth, the Doughnut is a strikingly simple analogy for a flourishing society. The outside of the doughnut represents the ecological ceiling that we cannot go beyond, and the inside of the doughnut represents the social foundation that we should not let people fall below.

https://www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/ 

“In a Western world of increasing apathy and political frustration, the Doughnut provides more than a glimmer of hope; it is a framework for recovery and a gateway to a true economic transition.” ~ C40 initiative

What’s a City Portrait?

The City Portrait fosters big-picture thinking and cross-departmental collaboration within a City, with a wider network of city changemakers, to co-create that city’s transformation. The tool provides a holistic snapshot of the city and its impact through four lenses – social, ecological, local, and global – which together provide a new perspective on what it means for a city to thrive. It appreciates what makes the city unique, while understanding its global influence and responsibility.

Downscaling the Doughnut 

Here is a useful video introduction to downscaling the Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries to the city, so that it becomes a tool for transformative action. 

Acknowledging Country

We are very grateful to have Jason Wing providing an 'Acknowledgement of Country' at this event.

Regen Sydney is convened on the unceded lands of First Nations custodians. We respectfully acknowledge the many lands that make up the place we now refer to as Sydney. We pay our sincere respects to elders past, present and emerging. 

We are committed to partnering with First Nations people and businesses and to centring First Nations perspectives. 

This Regen Sydney event is proudly supported by: