This Summer School is organised by students and young adults, we are not supported by a university. Some of us have been volunteering since the start, organising the Summer School since 2022, and some of us have joined the team more recently after participating in 2024 or 2025. Maybe you are joining the organisation team next year? :)
To find out more about our team, scroll through our bios below.
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.
Diego
(he/him)
Program
institutional design student, social anthropology, econ-hist-philo-socio dabbler, very much into scifi (utopian, dystopian, arthouse, b-movies), political niche debates (preferebly from an optimistic neopostfuturist-anarchamarxist ecoecon perspective), gardening, cycling, STS, spreadsheets and podcasts. cu! <3
Elisabeth
(she/her)
Program
international relations & economics student who also works for a labour union. Loves reading, long walks, swimming in rivers, having aperos with friends and listening to podcasts - hit me up with recommendations.
Barth
(he/him)
Participants
Recently finished my Bachelors in Political Economy and Economics History in the University of Geneva. My main interest regarding econ is how to make its education more accessible. In love with hitchhiking, walking, laughing with friends and cooking. You can find me in the nearest café or cinema if you come to Geneva.
Gabor
(he/him)
Logistics / Participants
Civil engineer working as teaching assistant and project engineer at ETH specialising in hydraulics and fish migration in rivers. Passionate about cycling infrastructure and loves to cycle everywhere. Looking forward to the fifth edition of the Summer School!
Karin P.
(she/her)
Coordination / Program
Just finished a Masters in Economics in Zurich, very excited to start a PhD in Economic Geography in September. Interested in a just, feminist, and sustainable future. When I'm not working on the Summer School, I like to cycle, read, knit, or babysit. Looking forward to the 2026 Summer School!
Karin R.
(she/her)
Participants
Recently started a PhD in Sociology at the University of Bern, focusing on social change, inequality both within and outside the labor market. I’ve since moved away from mainstream economics and feel at home in sociology. You can often find me at concerts, museums, or political events. However, I'm still practicing not to overload my agenda and to have enough time for myself.
Max
(he/him)
Logistics
Into outdoor activites, food (system transformation), just collaps; onto something ...; see you in August :)
Nicolas
(he/him)
Participants
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. Spending way too much time in soccer and basketball training with not enough skills to show for it ;).
Aurel
(he/him)
Program
Environmental sciences student, into all things political ecology and political economy. Love to discuss new and exciting ideas on how to make our economies work for everyone. Spends every free minute in the mountains on skis, or in the garden growing veggies and mushrooms.
We have a care team who will help us take care of ourselves:
The amazing kitchen team who will cook for us:
Chris (they/any) arranged the website design and hosting together with the Orga team :)
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. This time, we focused on transforming Labour, Power, and Institutions from a Pluralist Perspective. Finally, last year, we explored how heterodox economic approaches can offer concrete alternatives to the narratives of the New Right, focusing on housing, energy, and agriculture as key fields of resistance, titling the week “Economics as Resistance - Heterodox Strategies on Housing, Energy, and Agriculture against the New Right”.
Thank you to everyone who participated so far <3 We’re looking forward to the fifth edition!
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. To find international groups and learn more about the Rethinking Economics movement, visit https://rethinkeconomics.org/.
Today, the Summer School is a project of the Institute for Transformation and Economy Studies (ITW). Most members of the organising team are part of the institute. Based in Switzerland, the ITW is an independent institute for heterodox economists. It supports and carries out projects that contribute to making another economic system and another way of teaching economics possible - such as the Summer School. The ITW was founded in 2024 as an initiative of the Summer School organising team, with the aim of further strengthening our community and movement. It supports the Summer School by providing financial resources and digital infrastructure. At the same time, as the ITW relies entirely on activist voluntary work and small regular donations, the Summer School is a cornerstone of the ITW: It serves as an entry point for new members, a space for learning and training, and a starting point for future projects. If you want to learn more about the ITW or want to support our efforts, visit: https://intrawi.ch/
