The last decade has marked a significant increase in the global conscience of the need for radical changes in our “way of life.” The issue of rethinking our energy systems –traditionally centralised and fossil-fuel-based to support mass consumption– has been prominent and contentious. Due to its complexity, proposed solutions often address the symptoms of the current socioeconomic configuration rather than tackling its core assumptions. This summer school aims to explore a radically novel energy system that could reconceptualise the material and digital infrastructure and the political economy that permeates it.

When
The summer school includes four full days: 30/08, 31/08, 01/09, 02/09 in 2022. 

Where
The summer school will take place in Kalentzi (GR), a village at the Municipality of North Tzoumerka, 30km away from the city of Ioannina.

Target group
The summer school is open to local and international PhD students from all disciplines with an interest in energy transition. Master students who have accomplished the first year of their studies at their home university could also be enrolled in the programme. Excellent command of the English language is necessary.

Scope and aim
There is an urgent need to transition to an energy system that not only produces energy in an environmentally sustainable way, but also socially. The summer school will discuss solutions that challenge the very foundation of modern organisational and technological systems for truly impactful energy research. It will explore the potential of energy as a commons in terms of social and environmental sustainability. That is, energy as a communally produced and managed resource satisfying users’ needs rather than a commodity to maximise profits by producing and selling as much as possible. The summer school will provide the foundations for a novel research within the fields of science and technology studies, political ecology and economy, organisation studies, and engineering. Facilitators and students will co-create a learning environment to collaboratively investigate alternative technological and organisational trajectories under a commons-based political economy umbrella.

Summer school coordinator and organisers
The coordinator is Prof. Vasilis Kostakis. The summer school is co-organised by the P2P Lab of Tallinn University of Technology, and by the Interdepartmental Graduate Program “Science, Technology, Society – Science and Technology Studies” of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.

Facilitators
The summer school is a theoretical and hands-on exploration of alternative technological trajectories to the energy sustainability conundrum. The theoretical exploration will be facilitated by the P2P Lab and will be a blend of formal and non-formal educational techniques. Prof. Aristotle Tympas will also deliver a full-morning seminar. The hands-on exploration will be facilitated by the School of the Earth “Nea Guinea” and will include the collaborative building of parts of a small-scale wind turbine. Students will have the chance to discuss state-of-the-art findings and future scenarios with participants of the ERC project “Cosmolocalism”.

Fee
There is no fee.

Application
The application deadline is 15 June 2022. Positions are limited (15 students). If positions are filled up before the end of the deadline, the application round will be closed.