Symbol of hope

In 1996 Philippa and I made Snow Circle on Mt Ruapehu in New Zealand. More than 20 years later Kate Raworth has drawn the same shape as the model for the economics we need for the 21st century to become safe, fair, distributive and regenerative.

The idea behind our sculpture was to refer to the need to shift to a circular regenerative economic model to become ecologically sustainable. To eliminate waste, flows of materials in the economy must circulate by becoming resources for something else, as in nature.

We spent a day mounding and carving snow into a symbolic circle and photographed it with the volcanic peak of Mt Ngauruhoe beyond.

Raworth’s briliant book Doughnut Economics eloquently describes how the old linear economic frame has failed us and how the safe and just place for humanity to flourish lies within a circle of life between ecological planetary boundaries and the social foundation of wellbeing - the space where we can meet the needs of all within the means of the planet.

If you believe that images can be powerful, memorable metaphors that people can use to create new meaning and as models to share new thinking, this book is recommended reading.

Snow Circle