Economic Design refers to sustainability from a more resilient and participatory future
An increasing amount of people know that our current economic system is no longer sustainable, yet awareness of viable alternatives is spreading slowly. Our aim is to give you a better understanding of those alternatives and the true meaning of economy and wealth. Participants will learn about existing systems and tools that are useful, and will explore what it might take to re-design those that have proven dysfunctional.
Never has there been a better time and a more urgent need to create a more resilient and participatory future by turning our attention to the redesign of our economic systems. If you feel stuck or uncertain about what you can do and want to take part in this redesign, our e-learning programme is for you.
To do nothing is to accept that the answer to our problems is more economic growth – more production, more consumption, more highways, more buildings, more logging, more fishing, etc, which keeps us in a vicious degenerative circle.
In our Economic Design online course, you will learn how to engage with the transformation and redesign of your local and regional economy, and where to start the process of becoming a social entrepreneur, starting a cooperative or a community project. Graduates of our programmes have gone on to contribute to sustainability projects, build communities, become social entrepreneurs, create celebrated permaculture projects, biodynamic farms, transition town initiatives, successful consultancies and businesses and much more.
Course Content
Module 1: Shifting the Global Economy Towards Sustainability and Regeneration
This module explores in depth why the current economic systems no longer serve all – not even most – of humanity, while having a degenerative impact on communities, societies and the environment.
It invites you to explore the economy from a whole systems perspective and suggests how we might be able to re-design our economic system in ways that serve all people and the planet.
Module 1 explores the following questions:
- Why is economics not a science but a system designed by human beings and therefore open to redesign?
- How have so called ‘externalities’ and hidden subsidies resulted in an economic system that drives us to live beyond planetary boundaries?
- What is the role of international institutions, like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, and how do the lobbies of multinational corporations influence economic policies?
- What are the best places to intervene in the system in order to shift the global economy towards sustainability?
- What are some promising signs of hope that the redesign of our economic systems is already underway?
Module 2: Community Banks and Currencies
We examine the basic design of our current monetary system and why it is structurally dysfunctional, driving increasing inequality and creating a systemic need for economic growth.
We also explore a wide range of locally and regionally-based complementary currency systems and other existing alternatives.
Module 2 asks:
- Why is the debt-based monetary system that charges differential interests for loans and deposits structurally unsustainable?
- How could we re-design our monetary system and introduce more diverse currency types to create a more sustainable and resilient system?
- What is the role of locally and regionally-based investment systems, microcredit, microfinance and crowdfunding in creating a more sustainable economy?
Module 3: Right Livelihood
In Module 3 we start by taking a closer look at why Gross Domestic Product(ion) or GDP is an insufficient economic indicator and what alternative national and international indicators already exist. Local and community scale indicators for economic vibrancy and well-being are examined next, along with participatory budgeting, a look at guiding values for economic life and at how collaborative consumption and peer-to-peer networks are already offering new pathways to engaging in right livelihood.
Module 3 helps you find answers to the following questions:
- In the redesign of our economic systems at local, regional, national and global scale, what might be the role of new kinds of indicators and ways of measuring the success of an economy?
- What guiding ethics for economic life would help us in the creation of a sharing economy based on peer-to-peer collaboration and collaborative consumption?
- What shift in perspective and practice might enable us to design for generosity, trust and participation in the service of a common good?
Module 4: Revitalising Local Economies and Social Innovation
This fourth module is all about how we might strengthen economic activity at the local and regional scale and thereby increase community resilience and create the enabling conditions of the political ideal of subsidiarity. We explore how to ‘plug the leaks’ that drain local wealth in favour of multi-nationals and their shareholders, and offer examples of effective economic localisations around the world. We also investigate how social innovation and entrepreneurship, along with the creation of regenerative enterprise ecologies at the regional scale are all part of this transition towards a world where a strong global economy is the result of effective collaboration between vibrant local and regional economies.
Module 4 asks:
- How can a shift towards a stronger solidarity economy create thriving and resilient communities and regions and what is the role of social innovation and social entrepreneurship in this transition?
- Where can social innovators and entrepreneurs find support in communicating, financing and identifying opportunities for socially and ecologically regenerative development?
- What opportunities, challenges and lessons can we draw from looking at the economic experiments and eco-social enterprises that have been created within ecovillages around the world?
- What might characterise a regenerative enterprise and how do we set about creating one and linking it to like-minded businesses in its location?
Module 5: Legal and Financial Issues
Since good advice on running a social enterprise, how to design a sustainable business model and knowing what types and sources of finance and which legal structures you have to work with, all determine the success and effectiveness of your enterprise and/or project, Module 5 starts by addressing these issues. It also takes a closer look at the role of cooperatives, ‘the commons’ and ‘open source’ collaboration, as well as the kind of legal reforms that might be necessary to create truly regenerative cultures and economies.
Module 5 poses the following questions:
- What is a business model canvas and can I use it to design sustainability and regeneration into my project’s business model?
- How do I choose between different types and sources of finances, and what legal structures might best serve my/our business/project?
- Where might I find help in preparing a feasibility studies and the business plan for my/our project/business?
- What new ways of sharing ownership and access to resources, of innovating together and sharing intellectual property, and of establishing legal foundations for a regenerative culture are already being explored?
Start and Registration
- The next Economic Design online course will start on 22 March 2021 and runs for 8 weeks.
- We suggest you dedicate a minimum of 10 hours a week to receive maximum benefit from this programme.
- The cost of this 8-week programme is £350 GBP.
20% Discount code: GAIAECON20 – (valid until 8 February)
15% Discount code: GAIAECON15 – (valid until 22 February)
10% Discount code: GAIAECON10 – (valid until 8 March)
- For further information, please email: elearning@gaiaeducation.org
The Economic Dimension can be taken as a stand-alone programme or as the starting point for our 10-month Design for Sustainability online certification course. The Economic Design course, which also includes an orientation period, runs for a duration of eight weeks. We suggest you dedicate a minimum of 10 hours a week to the course, in order to receive maximum benefit from it.
After completing the Economic Dimension you will have the confidence and ability to start positioning yourself in the field of economic Design and Sustainability.
Graduates of our programmes have gone on to contribute to sustainability projects, build communities, become social entrepreneurs, partake in permaculture projects and bio-dynamic farming, support transition movements and much more.
The Economic Dimension
Authored by
Jonathan Dawson
Helena Norberg-Hodge
Ross Jackson
Facilitated by
Jorge Koho and Naresh Giangrande
What you will receive
- a downloadable course book with the latest research and additional resources (also
available as an online e-book) - a student handbook with all the important information concerning the course
- a Student Guide: description of each dimension’s learning outcomes, objectives and timeline, plus a set of activities for each module of the learning journey
- access to the virtual campus, where you join our classrooms, forums, design teams, have direct communication with tutors, with access to sample and all learning materials and activities for certification, as well as social media related to the course
- orientation to the virtual campus, e-learning tools and the Moodle platform
- full technical and academic support to navigate the virtual course and achieve all the learning outcomes
- a Certificate of Completion from Gaia Education, also certified by CPD UK
- earn credits to continue to our flagship certificated programme in Sustainability and Design
- the ability and practical skills to take active steps in the strategic area of Design for Sustainability
- paving the way of joining the Gaia Education Learning Journey
Your Investment
- We suggest you dedicate a minimum of 10 hours a week to receive maximum benefit from this programme.
- The cost of this 8 week programme is £350 GBP.
- For further information, please email elearning@gaiaeducation.org
Upon completion you will be equipped with the understanding and skills to become a confident change maker in ecological issues of sustainability. It will also qualify you to go on to study in our fully certificated programme, Design for Sustainability, and join a Design Studio after completing the four dimensions of the course.
Learn more about our full 10-month Design for Sustainability programme here.
