[apply] P2P Lab: two summer schools combining theoretical and hands-on exploration of alternative socio-technological trajectories

Summer school: Technology, society and the future

News from Nowhere is a utopian novel written in 1890 by William Morris. Morris imagined a world in which human happiness and economic activity coincided. He reminds us that there needs to be a point to labour beyond making ends meet. Capitalism, he explains, locks the capitalist into a horrible life, which leads nowhere but the grave. Morris’s utopian society has no government nor a monetary system. Craftwork has made “wage slavery” obsolete, and parliamentary democracy has given way to new forms of cooperation. The means of production are democratically controlled, and people find pleasure in sharing their interests, goals and resources. Is now the utopian vision of Morris within reach?

When

The summer school includes four full days: 20/07, 21/07, 22/07, 23/07 in 2022. It will start at 09:30 am on 20/07.

Where

The summer school will take place in Kalentzi (GR), a village at the Municipality of North Tzoumerka, 30km away from Ioannina, as well as in Frasta, a village 15km away from Kalentzi. The access to Kalentzi from Ioannina is through the provincial road Ioannina-Pramanta. Kalentzi is 20km away from the 2 big highways, which lead either to Athens or Thessaloniki, and 35 km from Ioannina’s King Pyrros airport. Soon here you will find more info about travelling and staying in the region.

Summer school coordinator and organiser

The coordinator is Prof. Vasilis Kostakis. The summer school is organised by the P2P Lab of Tallinn University of Technology. It is also supported by the FinEst Centre.

Target group

The summer school is open to local and international PhD students from all disciplines with an interest in technology and societal issues. 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

The summer school will use Morris’s News from Nowhere as a starting point of a spellbinding tour on what technology is and the alternative trajectories of techno-social development. We will discuss techno-determinism in its various forms, using classical technology critiques to understand, and see the power of, techno-development. We will then address ICT as a form of technology, debate the specific fields of media, gaming, and fashion, and look at digital governance and the smart city as well. Finally, we will explore how to create a sustainable economy through the commons, discussing the phenomenon of “cosmolocalism”.

Facilitators

The summer school is a theoretical and hands-on exploration of alternative techno-social trajectories. The theoretical exploration will be facilitated by Prof. Wolfgang Drechsler, Prof. Vasilis Kostakis and Dr. Christina Priavolou. The hands-on exploration will be facilitated by Boulouki and will include a workshop on traditional tar production technology and its potential implications for the commons.

Fee

There is no fee.

Application

Send your CV along with a one-page-long motivation letter to nikiforos.tsiouris AT taltech.ee. Deadline: 10 May 2022. Positions are limited (15 students). If positions are filled up before the end of the deadline, the application round will be closed. In this case, we will post an announcement on this web-page.

More about the region

Soon here you will find more info about travelling and staying in the region.

Acknowledgments

The summer school is financially supported by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 802512). Wolfgang Drechsler’s participation is made possible with funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement No 856602), see also www.finestcentre.eu. The seminars and the workshops will take place in facilities and buildings kindly provided by the Municipality of Northern Tzoumerka, the Cultural Society of Kalentzi and the Municipality of Central Tzoumerka. We thank them deeply.

Questions

Contact: nikiforos.tsiouris AT taltech.ee. The programme of the school will be announced once the students’ cohort is finalised.

Summer school: Energy as a commons

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. It will start at 09:30 am on 30/08.

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.The access to Kalentzi from Ioannina is through the provincial road Ioannina-Pramanta. Kalentzi is 20km from the 2 big highways, which lead either to Athens or Thessaloniki, and 35 km from Ioannina’s King Pyrros airport. Soon here you will find more info about traveling and staying in the region.

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.

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.

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

Send your CV along with a one-page-long motivation letter to nikiforos.tsiouris AT taltech.ee. Deadline: 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. In this case, we will post an announcement on this web-page.

More about the region

Soon here you will find more info about traveling and staying in the region.

Acknowledgments

The summer school is financially supported by the European Research Council under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 802512). The seminars and the workshops will take place in facilities and buildings kindly provided by the Municipality of Northern Tzoumerka and the Cultural Society of Kalentzi. We thank them deeply.

Questions

Contact: nikiforos.tsiouris AT taltech.ee. The programme of the school will be announced once the students’ cohort is finalised.