About us

This Summer School is organized by students and young adults, we are not supported by a university. Some of us have been volunteering since the start, organizing the Summer School in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and some of us have joined the team more recently after participating in 2024. Maybe you are joining the organization team next year? :)

To find out more about our team, scroll through our bios below.

Who we are 💞


Photo of Benjamin

Benjamin

(he/him)

Finance / Funding

Social pedagogue currently studying economics at the university of Basel. Trying to fix my realtionship with mathematics. Into trying stuff, exploring new places and spaces. Find me at the nearest karaoke machine.

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Diego

(he/him)

Coordination / Funding / (Program)

Social Anthropology, Econ and institutional design student, very much into scifi (utopian, dystopian, arthouse, b-movies), political niche debates (preferebly from an optimistic neopostfuturist-anarchamarxist ecoecon perspective), STS, gardening, cycling, spreadsheets and podcasts. cu! <3

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Elaine

(she/her)

Program / Community Building

Just starting a Masters in socioeconomic and ecological economics. I love the first days of spring, playing pétanque with a glass of pastis in my hand, book clubs in crowded cafés, dance improvisations and endless summer evenings with friends. Our summer school helps me not to completely despair about the state of the world and to regain strength from our shared commitment to a future worth living.

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Elisabeth

(she/her)

Program

international relations & economics student who also works for a labour union. Loves reading, long walks, swimming in rivers and having aperos with friends. Might be heard singing to random pop songs.

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Florian

(he/him)

Program

PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Vienna, I view myself as a critical Political Economist. I work on resource and energy policy, with a special focus on Argentina. I am interested in heterodox economics because mainstream economics utterly fails to address the multiple crises our civilization faces. I attended the summer school 2024, and I am happy and motivated to be part of this year's Orga Team.

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Gabor

(he/him)

Participants

Civil engineer working as a teaching assistant and project engineer at ETH specializing in fish migration in rivers. Passionate about cycling infrastructure and loves to cycle everywhere. Looking forward to another edition of the Summer School.

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Hòa

(she/her)

Program

Humanities refugee jumping the sinking ship by turning to the social sciences. I'm training to become Environment/HSE Auditor while I write about AI, environment and human rights to make ends meet, but I remain an unrepentant literature nerd. I enjoy hiking with a camera in my hands, seeking a healthy fix of Stendhal syndrome at the next art museum, harrassing friends about trashy B-movies and surrealist arthouse fuckery. I joined the Resuso Team because there's only so much therapy can do if the world is burning. I hope it can be cathartic for you too.

Photo of Karin P.

Karin P.

(she/her)

Program

Just finished a Masters in Economics in Zurich, interested in a social and sustainable future. When I'm not working on the Summer School, I like to cycle, read, knit, or babysit. Looking forward to the 2025 Summer School!

Photo of Karin R.

Karin R.

(she/her)

Participants

Recently finished my Masters in Economics at the University of Bern. I am particularly interested in labor and public economics. You can often meet me at concerts, museums or political events. I love cooking, swimming, reading and chatting. At the moment, however, I'm practicing not to overload my agenda and to have enough time for myself.

Photo of Krzysztof

Krzysztof

(he/they)

Participants

Statistician and computer scientist. Loves nature and reading groups. Probably a bit too enthusiastic about epistemology and institutions. Just can't stop thinking about how we can fix the silly predicament humanity got itself into. Would love to hear about your favourite book!

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Max

(he/him)

Logistics

Into outdoor activites, food (system transformation), just collaps; onto something ... ; see you in August :)

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Nicolas

(he/him)

Community Building

Econ-Runaway who found a home in Economic History, where I'm currently doing a PhD. Interested in Inequality, Taxation, Monetary Policy and the Financial system. Trying to look not too stupid playing soccer and basketball.

Photo of Nuria

Nuria

(she/her)

Participants

Studying history with a special focus on the long 19th century and socialism, particularly in relation to gender. Interested in the history of economic thought and inspired by David Graeber, which has given me hope that people can think and act differently.

Photo of Yannick

Yannick

(he/him)

Logistics

Trained economist and teacher. Currently thinking about new ways to teach economics. Always keen to learn about new ideas and perspectives, esp. on education, sustainability, and transformation. I like two day hikes, looking at plants/insects in any garden, swimming in open water, going for long bike rides, and having apéro somewhere nice.

Photo of Zora

Zora

(she/her)

Participants

Just completed my bachelor in Economics at HSG, interested in economic history and philosophy. The past year also worked at WWF in the One Planet Lab. After a long day I like to cook and listen music from the 80s or have some wine with my friends. Really looking forward to the amazing discussions we'll have this summer :)


Kitchen team 🍲


History of the Summer School

In 2021, Lea and Diego (then members of the Plurale Ökonomik Zürich board) had the idea to plan a Summer School. They pitched their plan at the start-of-semester-event in September 2021 and a group of around 8 people got together to plan the first Summer School, focusing on Feminist Economics and Ecological Economics. After a year of planning, it was held end of August 2022 in Beatenberg, where around 50 participants, 8 team members and 7 speakers joined and together created an incredible experience.

As the Summer School was quickly fully booked in 2022, and Haus Amisbühl can not host more than around 80 people, we decided to look for a bigger location. We found the biggest group house in Switzerland (as far as we know) in Grand Hôtel Chandolin, that can accommodate 130 people. Focusing on Climate, Finance, and Inequality in 2023, we were happy to experience another successful Summer School. Building on the previous year's momentum, we returned not only to beautiful Chandolin, but also "Back to Utopia"—the theme of the 2024 Summer School. That time, we focused on transforming Labour, Power, and Institutions from a Pluralist Perspective.

Thank you to everyone who participated so far <3 we’re looking forward to the fourth edition!

Connections to Rethinking Economics

Originally, the Summer School was a project of Rethinking Economics Zurich (back then: Plurale Ökonomik Zürich), but today our orga team is made up of individuals based in various Swiss cities and neighbouring countries. Some are active in local Rethinking Economics groups, some are not. To find out more about Rethinking Economics Switzerland and other local groups in Switzerland, you can visit their website. Our aim is to bring members of all Swiss Rethinking Economics groups together at this Summer School and provide a yearly meeting where we can talk about our events and projects, share ideas and plan a pluralist future together.