Preparing for post-Corona

Many people are planning what to do after the main time of the pandemic. It is important for the future of all of us, how we act now, as I mentioned e.g. in this post: https://cathagoessustainable.wordpress.com/2020/03/05/a-comment-on-corona-calling-for-resilience/

There are many possible scenarios which can happen, for example, the one described here: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/artikel/im-rausch-des-positiven-die-welt-nach-corona/ This is a nice one because it is positive. To prevent bad scenarios, it is important to support all people and to support organisations which are good for our future because they are focused on well-being, resilience and sustainability and not just on maximizing profits (by harming the environment, health and social ties).

The city of Amsterdam has a great idea for the post-Corona time. It takes up Kate Raworth’s concept of the Doughnut Economy and uses it as a guide for its activities. The Guardian explains the doughnut concept as follows:

“The inner ring of her donut sets out the minimum we need to lead a good life, derived from the UN’s sustainable development goals and agreed by world leaders of every political stripe. It ranges from food and clean water to a certain level of housing, sanitation, energy, education, healthcare, gender equality, income and political voice. Anyone not attaining such minimum standards is living in the doughnut’s hole.

The outer ring of the doughnut, where the sprinkles go, represents the ecological ceiling drawn up by earth-system scientists. It highlights the boundaries across which human kind should not go to avoid damaging the climate, soils, oceans, the ozone layer, freshwater and abundant biodiversity.

Between the two rings is the good stuff: the dough, where everyone’s needs and that of the planet are being met.” (emphasis added, source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/08/amsterdam-doughnut-model-mend-post-coronavirus-economy)

The model is visualised like this:

Source: https://www.appropedia.org/images/a/a0/Donuteconomics.jpg

I think that this is a great idea and a good way to focus on the important things when building a post-Corona society. I hope that many cities, regions and countries will act in a similar way and work on setting up sustainable and resilient societies. Let’s all urge leaders and influential people in our home places to do so as well and support positive changes! We are living in difficult times, so it is important to use the negative at least for a positive outcome in the future.

And don’t forget to join the Global Climate Strike tomorrow (24th of April): https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/calendar

For Germany, you can sign up for the online strike here: https://www.klima-streik.org/?utm_medium=Jugend-Newsletter&utm_source=20200408&utm_campaign=Netzstreik – Please all join!

Source of header image: https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mJr4ABMT_7g/WMk5VEsinGI/AAAAAAAADJM/jIZFG8HSZDAV9XODhnKv_6Bwb04GEYsJwCLcB/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/82e48fbc78fcbe2d54667902cf62ef2f.jpg