Original post from The Bartlett Development Planning Unit Blog: https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/dpublog/2025/01/21/post-growth-pathways-learning-living-and-reimagining-in-kalentzi-greece (external link)
By Rana Zein
Amid the growing prominence of post-growth ideas in research and policy-making, the summer school titled “Life After Growth” offered a transformative experience, blending “unlearning” and “co/re-learning” about values, needs, time, growth/post-growth, and collective development. Held in the summer of 2024 in Kalentzi, Greece, the school aimed to bridge theoretical exploration with practical engagement in post-growth principles. Organized collaboratively by the P2P Lab of Tallinn University of Technology—a research hub based in Ioannina focused on post-growth cooperative models—the Post-Growth Innovation Lab of the University of Vigo, and the Department of Social Policy of Democritus University of Thrace, the learning experience was steeped in interdisciplinary and international expertise.
The location was specifically chosen for its emerging cooperative ecosystem, which includes initiatives such as “Tzoumakers,” a rural makerspace; “The Heart of the Bee,” a honey and agricultural farm; “Nea Guinea” (School of Earth), focusing on sustainable lifestyles; “High Mountains,” an agricultural social cooperative; “Boulouki,” a collective of vernacular builders preserving traditional construction techniques; and “Habibi.Works,” an intercultural and educational makerspace supporting refugees. This integrated network of collectives provided participants, including myself, with a hands-on experience of how cooperatives operate and the challenges they face daily, fostering a more tangible and meaningful connection with the theoretical content of the school.