About Roots Winter School

Held annually in Athens, Roots Winter School (RWS) is a three-day progressive learning programme designed to cultivate hope, widen horizons, and catalyse action. RWS aims to push the boundaries of participants’ thinking, abilities, and imagination in order to foster global societies dedicated to planetary health and well-being. The program integrates critical theoretical thought with urgent political, socio-economic, ecological and cultural matters and experiences of struggles through a multifaceted methodology. 

The methodology reflects the character of these sources of knowledge too: approaches coming from formal-education context (e.g. lecture, presentation, seminar) and non-formal processes of learning are mutually supportive. Our key objective is to amplify the program’s collective educational impact through encouraging co-learning experiences among the participants. 

This Year’s Topic: Strategies for socio-ecological transformations in times of uncertainty

This year’s theme focuses on strategies for socio-ecological transformations in times of uncertainty, with a particular emphasis on socio-spatial justice. What are the relationships between global socio-spatial systems and local lived experiences? How planetary urbanisation, its dependency on economic growth, interacts and affects the socio-political and ecological systems across scales?  How can we use the critical frame of degrowth to look through possibilities, policies and actions towards sustainable and equitable ecosystems that challenge mainstream perceptions of sustainability, including circular economy, smart cities, and green technological innovations? How intersectional, decolonial, and transfeminist processes can prioritise the needs of humans and beyond humans contributing to alternative socio-spatial visions across scales? What could be the diverse personal, collective, and institutional roles in such transformations?

We will explore these questions following a systems thinking approach to address interdependence, complexity, and totality and understand interconnections and interactions in our living environments. We will promote dialogue between autonomous areas of research and action, particularly drawing insights from urban political ecology to critically reflect on how power relations, institutional dynamics, and socio-environmental inequalities shape socio-spatial development, resource use, and environmental governance.

Draft Program 

– 29.11.2024: Arrivals | Informal evening gathering 

– 30.11.2024: The personal is political | Socio-spatial injustices and possibilities for change with an emphasis on race, gender, age, (dis)ability, and their intersections in between different scales.

The purpose of the first day of the Winter School is to start from the personal socio-spatial experiences and through a systems thinking approach explore the origins of socio-spatial injustices locally and globally, and their interrelations.  

• Collective mapping activity to reflect on socio-spatial experiences and conflicts
• Open dialogues with academics, activists, citizens, and policy makers

– 1.12.2024: Putting theory into practice | Critical urban studies and degrowth

The purpose of the second day of the Winter School is to explore these socio-spatial injustices and possibilities through local cases and experiences, and increase critical thinking  

• Thematic study visits to community initiatives: introduction to the urban commons
• Lectures on the topics of urban political ecology and degrowth

– 2.12.2024: Reclaiming the political | Strategising for for socio-ecological transformations 

The purpose of the third day of the Winter School is to further build the capacity and strategies needed to support participants in realising their proposals within their own communities and/or in the context of networks and alliances. We will close the Winter School with a final evaluation

• Collective artwork
• Participatory Action Planning activity 

– 3.12.2024: Departures

Fees and Financial Aid

The participation fee is set at €100 per person. Former participants and members of Let’s Talk about Degrowth are exempt from paying the fee. Limited scholarships of travel expenses are available, particularly for students, unemployed, participants coming from the Global South that might need visa support, or any person that could justify their need for a scholarship.

Please note that this is a self-funded international activity of Inter Alia. We encourage participants who are supported by an institution or have the financial capacity to contribute to the Winter School with a solidarity fee. This will help support the participation of more people experiencing socio-economic, mobility and/or other constraints.

Accommodation of participants that do not live in Athens are covered by Inter Alia in shared twin and triple rooms. Two festive meals will be financially covered by Inter Alia.

Who can participate

If you’re keen on transformative learning and wish to be part of a dynamic community aiming to foster societal change, Roots Winter School is for you.

The Winter School welcomes participants who:

• Are over 18 years old.
• Able to be in Athens for the entire duration of the program.
• Have an academic/policy/activist background and interest in contemporary political, social, ecological, and cultural issues.

Working language is English.

How to Apply

Ready to challenge your perspectives and make lasting connections?

To apply for the RWS 2024 send a short CV (including basic communication details) and short (300-350 words) motivation letter to Amerissa at giannouli@interaliaproject.com 

In the motivation letter, explain your needs and interest in joining this year’s Roots Winter School, how you see this activity contributing to your personal, social, and professional life, and how you plan to use the experience in the future. If you wish to apply for the scholarship, please explain in detail the reasons you need the scholarship and provide an estimation of your travel expenses.

Deadline to apply 15th of September 

Selected participants will get notified by the 10th of October

For questions, please contact Amerissa at: giannouli@interaliaproject.com