In 2025, CalDEC released The California Doughnut Snapshot and Report: a deep dive into where Californians’ basic needs are not being met and where we are putting unsustainable pressure on the environment.
The California Doughnut Report is the result of months of data collection, review, and expert consultation. It brings together 42 social and ecological indicators to offer an assessment of what California needs to work on in order to get our state into the safe and just space for all Californians to thrive in balance with the rest of the world.
We intend for the California Doughnut to be used as a strategic framing and prioritization tool by policymakers and public agencies.
Too often, government priorities are addressed in silos. We hope the Doughnut can help bring social and environmental work into a single, shared framework — and, in doing so, reveal gaps where greater investment or coordination may be needed.
- Do a Doughnut analysis of your city or county. Need help? Contact us for local Doughnut consulting.
- Contribute to the next iteration of the California Doughnut. Do you have indicators to share with CalDEC? Email suggestions to caldec@caldec.org.
We also hope the Doughnut can support policymakers in justifying social and environmental priorities and in providing clear, transparent reasoning to constituents about the choices being made.
We want to hear from you: how does the Doughnut complement and/or challenge your current economic planning and development processes? Let us know at caldec@caldec.org
Introduce your students to Doughnut Economics, and if there’s a Doughnut group in your area, be sure to connect students’ course work to relevant, current, local efforts to improve our world.
- Introduce the Doughnut as a meaningful alternative to GDP for evaluating the success of an economy in economics, environmental studies, public policy, and civics courses.
- Help students understand the economy more fully, including dimensions often excluded from traditional measures like GDP, such as environmental impact, wealth distribution, and unpaid labor.
- Examine how economic planning currently happens, and where there are opportunities for improved data hygiene, transparency, collaboration, and leadership.
- We do in person and Zoom presentations at schools. If you’d like CadDEC to present to your class, please email: david.kearney-brown@caldec.org
The Doughnut is especially effective as a unifying framework. It supports interdisciplinary collaboration–bridging work that is currently siloed into an academic discipline into a collective pursuit of informed progress. It helps students see themselves as part of a shared economic project — getting the world into the Doughnut — regardless of where their interests lie.
We need your help raising awareness and spreading the Doughnut wherever you live.
If your work supports meeting people’s basic needs and/or the planet, then you are already part of the Doughnut Economics movement.
- Reflect on the KPIs you use to evaluate the impact of your work. Are these shared across your field?
- Shared metrics can become indicators within a local Doughnut, which can then feed into state and regional-level Doughnuts.
- Use DEAL’s search tool to find Doughnut Economics groups near you or to explore what it would take to implement the Doughnut in your region.
- Use DEAL’s tools to bring the Doughnut to your community. If you need support, contact us at caldec@caldec.org.
- Explore the Doughnut for Businesses if you’re interested in integrating Doughnut principles into your workplace.
Use the California Doughnut as a boundary object, i.e. a tool that supports collaboration across disciplines.
- Align research, metrics, and reporting with a coherent outcomes framework
- Identify data gaps and opportunities for improved measurement
- Translate technical findings into more accessible public narratives
- Test how Doughnut Economics can be applied at state and regional scales
Use the California Doughnut as a lens for understanding California’s economy and an entrypoint for finding your role in getting us into the Doughnut.
- Learn how the Doughnut reveals a fuller picture of your economy than traditional evaluations like GDP
- Understand which issues to focus on if you want to become more involved in social and environmental work
- Engage more meaningfully in civ
A living model and an open invitation
Data evolves. Conditions change. And it will take years of refinement and collaboration to build a model that sufficiently encapsulates a state as large and complex as California.
We have made every effort to work with a wide range of stakeholders and experts, but we know there is more to learn and more experts to bring into the conversation.
We consider the California Doughnut a living document, and we invite others to help strengthen it by:
Suggesting improved indicators or data sources
Sharing regional or community-level insights
Reviewing and suggesting edits to the report.
The California Doughnut Snapshot: An Assessment of Social and Ecological Performance
Our Vision
We envision an economy where the people and ecology of California thrive.
Our Purpose
CalDEC promotes the creation of a regenerative and distributive economy throughout California.
CalDEC is one of the many networks within the Doughnut Economics Action Lab.
Our Strategy
Create a new economic narrative for California
Raise awareness, develop understanding, and instill passion towards creating transformative change in California, based on the principles of Doughnut Economics.
Collaborate with existing changemakers
Connect with like-minded individuals, groups, and organizations aligned with Doughnut Economic principles, seeking to enhance and amplify their work.
Spark and provide support to Doughnut initiatives and relevant policy changes
Engage in opportunities to influence and contribute to governmental, institutional, and business policy initiatives required for systemic change.
What is Doughnut Economics?
