How do we build within the planetary boundaries while at the same time fulfilling human needs?  How do we guide building industry activities towards a safe and just operating space?  Those are the key questions to be tackled by leading researchers, advisors and EFFEKT this week as they meet at the Stockholm Resilience Centre for the third collaborative workshop with the aim of developing a holistic framework “The Doughnut for Urban Development”  

Conceived by the people and planet positive real estate company Home.Earth and backed by Realdania, the "Home.Earth - Building with Social and Planetary Responsibility” project aims to accelerate the sustainable transition of the construction industry by demonstrating commercially scalable examples of socially inclusive buildings that have a positive impact on the climate. To get there, Home.Earth is collaborating with a team of experts, including EFFEKT, who are developing The Doughnut for Urban Development, inspired by British economist Kate Raworth’s book Doughnut Economics – Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist.

A series of publications will disseminate new knowledge to the industry
The project will result in a series of publications describing, among other things, methodology, building processes and target values for absolute sustainability. EFFEKT is already busy designing and developing the visual language for the first publication “The Doughnut for Urban Development”, which will be launched in June.

Dani Hill-Hansen, Architect and Sustainable Design Engineer at EFFEKT will be participating in the workshop at the Stockholm Resilience Centre at the end of this week: “We hope to communicate new knowledge and the insights of our amazing collaborators in an inspiring and clear manner, with the ultimate goal of transitioning the building industry towards a safe and just operating space.  Our biggest task is to distill complex information into a legible and actionable framework that others can use to guide their building projects towards sustainable ends. We hope that the open-source publications will encourage more building owners to center solutions around human and planetary health.”

Home.Earth is simultaneously developing a circular building system in collaboration with EFFEKT, Vandkunsten and Sweco, which will be tested at their first construction site in Nærheden, where 158 sustainable and inclusive homes will be created. The carrying capacity of the plot is currently being tested and the depth of the foundation requirements determined.

Collaboration for change
Recently, The Doughnut Economics Action Lab joined the Home.Earth Research project as an official partner and EFFEKT founding partner Tue Hesselberg Foged is excited to take part in the conversations at the Stockholm Resilience Centre along with forward-thinking collaborators:

“It is an incredible privilege to work with such renowned researchers. Their knowledge is essential to raise the bar for the whole industry when it comes to figuring out how to build within the planetary boundaries. Thanks to a similar cross-sectoral partnership with advisors, research institutes, architects, and NGOs, we were able to launch the Reduction Roadmap last year – a science-based transformation tool, which identifies where we are today, where we need to go, and the speed at which our industry must reduce its carbon emissions to reach Earth’s safe operating space. What the industry really needs at this point is this type of positive, collaborative approach.”

Facts about the project
Home.Earth will develop the Doughnut for Urban Development – a framework for socially, economically and environmentally sustainable urban development.

The project draws inspiration from Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist and is developed in collaboration with EFFEKT, Vandkunsten, Sweco, SLA Landscape, Green Building Council, Stockholm Resilience Centre, the Doughnut Economic Action Lab, DTU and BUILD.

Realdania has supported the project with a grant of DKK 4.3 million.

Home.Earth is a real estate company founded in 2021 to show a more sustainable and socially inclusive way of developing cities and housing in European metropoles.