Showcasing London Undergrowth: Oliver Rees’ learning journey
Oliver’s learning question:
How might we increase the reach, relevance and resonance of regenerative economics message(s)?
My experience
In the face of such difficult and pressing challenges, meeting so many like minded people as part of London Undergrowth has been a real revelation.
The fact that there are so many people who are passionate about bringing frameworks like Donut Economics off the page is really reassuring.
The question of what can actually be done is still not clear to me — it’s inevitably a process of experimentation and change, but the important thing is that we try things and learn from each other. And that’s exactly what London Undergrowth has inspired me to start doing.
The chapters of Doughnut Economics that felt most relevant to my learning question:
Three things I learned:
- How many of the ideas and concepts that we take as scientific truths are actually malleable stories: rational economic man, laws of supply and demand etc sound inevitable, yet in fact we are the ones that choose to elevate these stories to the realm of “truth”
- How difficult it is for regenerative ideas to enter mainstream commerce. Even where there are kernels of hope — for example, Atelier100, a store for goods created by the local community — the realities of the status quo (e.g lack of economies of scale) mean that the goods remain prohibitively expensive.
- How easy it is to start small scale regenerative practices. As part of my enquiry I started a herb garden and distributed excess cake to neighbours. Small practices like this might be hard to scale even to a community commerce level, but at least it’s a start.
A question I’m leaving with:
How can small scale acts of generosity and kindness be elevated to the community/commercial level?
