Catalysing the Budapest Degrowth Doughnut

The Budapest Degrowth Doughnut serves as a powerful visualisation tool that maps the city’s ecological boundaries and social foundations, making complex sustainability concepts accessible to both citizens and policymakers. By employing a diverse set of cultural, socio-economic, and biophysical indicators, the doughnut framework enables an assessment of where Budapest is exceeding environmental limits or falling short in meeting social needs. Its participatory approach—developed through a series of workshops involving NGOs, municipal bodies, think tanks, and scientific institutions—ensures adaptability to the local context and fosters broad ownership of the process.

This science–policy interface not only exposes the drivers of biodiversity loss and the interconnected nature of urban challenges, but also supports the city’s transition towards socially just and ecologically sound transformation. DAISY, in collaboration with the Municipality of Budapest, provides tools to monitor and evaluate both direct and indirect biodiversity-related indicators, identify necessary actions, and co-develop transformative policy recommendations. As Budapest begins to embed the doughnut framework into its Biodiversity Strategy and other municipal policies, it stands as a replicable model for other districts and cities—demonstrating the value of participatory and adaptable approaches to sustainable urban development.