Location

Like in the previous three years, the Summer School will take place in the Grand Hôtel Chandolin, CH-3961, Canton of Valais in Switzerland. Chandolin is beautifully located 2'000 meters above sea level quite remotely in the Swiss Alps. There are no shops available except for a small kiosk. We will provide three meals a day and snacks in between but if you want to bring "personal snacks", of course you are welcome to.

Please have a look at our no-flight policy. We highly recommend that you come by public transport, as there is no parking available for students at the location. The bus station is called Chandolin Poste. For a detailed description on how to get there, you can have a look at our Travel Guide. Keep in mind that train ticket prices go up the longer you wait before travel. As such, we recommend booking your train tickets early (two months in advance, or earlier).

Accommodation

The Grand Hôtel is not a hotel anymore, it is a large house with many bedrooms and common rooms that we have all for ourselves. We are together responsible for keeping the place clean, and therefore everyone will be doing some chores during the week. The Summer School is on-site participation only, there is no online streaming available.

The lectures, leisure activities, and accommodation all take place in the same building. The house has 50 rooms so you will share the bedroom with one or more other students (2-6 people/room). There are bathrooms with separate showers on every floor. A small number of rooms have ensuite showers and toilets.

Fee

The Summer School relies on participant fees in order to take place. We want to foster inclusivity by accommodating varying financial abilities. This means that you have the option to choose how much you pay based on your financial circumstances. We kindly ask you to pay the highest option that you (or your employer/ university) can afford.

• Supporter: 1000+ CHF
• Standard: 975 CHF
• Cost-covering: 775 CHF
• Reduced by 1/2: 495 CHF
• Reduced by 2/3: 325 CHF
• If you don't have the financial means for attending the Summer School (or the trip), we can support you additionally. Please contact us.

No matter the fee, everyone gets the same experience.

Included in the fee are:

• All lectures, workshops and seminars
• Preparation material and readings
• Meals and snacks (three meals a day)
• Accommodation (shared room)

Not included are:

• Drinks as Beer, Wine (with and without alcohol) etc. but are provided for a small fee (please bring some cash)
• Travel costs
• Visa costs (if applicable)
• Insurance (health, loss of luggage, etc.)

Accessibility

We want to make the Summer School as accessible as possible. In the following, we describe possible barriers. If you have any questions or requests, please contact us via email: summerschoolch@rethinkeconomics.org.

Physical Access

Unfortunately, the house is not wheelchair accessible. The path to the house is made of cobbles, the entry consists of a few stairs, and there are small stairs between every room. There is a small elevator. As far as we know, there are no seats in the showers. The walk from the bus stop to the house is around 15 minutes by foot. There is no parking available for participants on site.

Noise and Quiet Spaces

It can sometimes get noisy during the breaks or the meals. There is a silent room and a quiet room (Library), participants are encouraged to take breaks without a need to justify. You can also have your meals outside on the terrace, where it is usually quieter. There will be no background music playing during the day. If you want to play music, you can use the disco in the basement. On the last evening, there might be music playing in the disco until after 10 pm.

Social and Community

Some participants will know each other from previous editions of the Summer School, some might come with a friend, and many will not know other participants in the beginning. If you want to get to know other participants before arriving, you can check the travel buddy sheet (link in email) and text someone who is taking the same route. There will be get-to-know-each-other time, especially on Saturday evening and Sunday morning.

We are working on assembling a care team that will host check-ins during the week and who is open to talk and mediate if there is a conflict. Please check our Awareness Concept as well.

Language

The working language is English. Many participants will speak German, French, or Italian; however, we encourage everyone to speak in English so that all participants can follow the conversation.

Money

The local currency is the Swiss franc. You might need money to buy your public transport ticket (we recommend buying it beforehand and online), to buy snacks at the local shop (we will provide food and also snacks at the Summer School), or to buy beer/wine in the evenings. We will also accept Euros at the Summer School.

Food

All food is vegan, with vegetarian options available at every meal, and prepared freshly on site by our cooking team. Tap water is safe and drinkable, there are bathrooms at every level. We suggest that you bring a water bottle, but of course, you can also use cups from the house. Please inform us if you have any allergies, intolerances, or other dietary restrictions so the kitchen team can adjust the meal plan or prepare separate meals for you. We will ask you about allergies after reviewing your application.

Chores

We will all stay together at Grand Hôtel Chandolin. It used to be a hotel, but it is not anymore! We will have the whole house for ourselves and not share it with other groups. This also means that we are responsible for keeping it nice and clean. Participants will have two slots during the week to do chores. Chores are divided into these groups: Cleaning, Household, Early Birds (Breakfast), Dishes, Social Media, and Facilities.

As this Summer School is organized by 10 volunteers, we are relying on everyone to work together. Please sign up for a chores group before arriving. You will receive the link to the document by email. Thank you!

You can find the sign-up link in the email we will send you after we receive your payment. This not only helps to keep the Summer School low budget, but it also strengthens the community feeling.

Awareness concept

“Awareness” is about how we treat each other. It's about having a look at our behaviour and making sure we're treating everyone with respect and kindness, both in theory and in practice. That means being mindful of physical, mental, and personal boundaries.

We want to help each other by recognizing and addressing any behaviour that might hurt or invade someone's space, or be downright discriminatory. It's crucial to take people seriously when they say something's bothering them. They are the experts on their own feelings and experiences.

Consensus Principle

We follow the consensus principle. Instead of assuming everything's cool unless someone says otherwise, we aim for mutual agreement in our actions and conversations. Pay attention to cues from others, like body language, to see if they're comfortable with the interaction. For example, don't start talking about sensitive topics or touch someone without their permission. It's about respecting boundaries -- a clear yes means yes, and no means no.

It is up to each person to decide what discrimination looks like to them and where their boundaries lie. Let's give people the space to describe their experiences in their own words without doubting them or trying to correct them.

Pronouns

Ask people what pronouns they prefer, especially when you're talking about them. In lots of languages, pronouns have a grammatical gender, so it's important to use the ones that make people feel comfortable. There is a wide range of different

pronouns that people like to use for themselves: he, she, they, hen, xier, iel, x, none, just using the first name, amongst others.

Discussions

In group discussions, we use hand signals to enable a self-moderated discussion. We'll introduce the hand signals at the beginning of the week. Moreover, let's have an eye on how much space we are taking in and that everyone gets the opportunity to speak.

Self-care

To take care of others and the community also means to take care of yourself, and we encourage all participants to look after their resources, listen to their needs, and take breaks when needed. As organisers, we also want to be careful with our own resources and practice self-care during the week, therefore, we will be wearing lanyards as identifiers when we are “on duty” and take them off when we are taking a break. So if you have a question and see a Summer School team member who is not wearing their lanyard, please look for someone else to ask (emergencies are an exception, of course).

Quiet Spaces

We know that with over 100 people in the house, it can get quite noisy and sometimes overwhelming. In the house, there are two rooms that you can use as break rooms, the Library, which is usually quiet and cosy with sofas, and the smaller Silent Room for when you want some time in silence. You are allowed to take breaks whenever needed and do not have to explain yourself. And if you feel like being noisy, listening to music, dancing etc., you can always use the disco in the basement :)

Pictures

Throughout the week, the social media team (participants) will be taking pictures. These pictures will be shared with everyone at the end of the week. We might use them on our social media platforms or website. If you do not want to be in any pictures or do not want them to be published, please tell us so or write us an email. If you like taking pictures and capturing the vibe of the Summer School (and can bring your camera), you can volunteer to be in the social media Chores team. We kindly ask participants who are not part of the social media team not to take pictures of other participants.

For more info about how awareness can look like, have a look at the Streikhaus Awareness Broschure, of which our concept was strongly inspired by.