Our Team
The Summer School team brings together a mix of educators, researchers, and activists, all driven by a passion for exploring alternative pathways to degrowth. Through collaborative learning and open dialogue, they cultivate an inspiring environment where new ideas and practices for a just future can take shape.
Simona
Simona Getova (she/they) is a decolonial feminist political ecologist, climate justice organiser, facilitator, and educator from North Macedonia. Simona currently organizes within spaces of community-led resistance to extractivism, ecofeminist transnational solidarity, and anti-imperialist and anti-militarist right to energy. She researches the role of intersectional and decolonial feminist praxis for social movement strategy formulation in initiatives for desired eco-social transformation. Simona currently serves as the Director of Operations at Research and Degrowth International and teaches intersectional feminist, political ecology, and degrowth-related topics in several master’s programs.
James
James Souder is currently a student at ICTA-UAB for the master’s program in Political Ecology, Degrowth, and Environmental Justice. He is excited to join this year’s summer school team to strengthen bonds and shared learning opportunities among participants and speakers. He has a background in Industrial Ecology and also works as a massage therapist, with side passions in singing, photography, and enjoying the sun whenever possible.
Natasha
Natasha is currently doing the ICTA-UAB master’s program in Political Ecology, Degrowth, and Environmental Justice. Natasha has a background in Environmental Psychology and is also very passionate about feminism, queer ecology, and building strong post-growth imaginaries. As a participant of last year’s summer school, Natasha is very excited to be on the organizing team and is looking forward to connecting with this years’ participants! In her free time, you’ll find Natasha doing sports, taking part in food activism initiatives, or spending time with loved ones.
Steph
Stephanie McDonagh works at Research and Degrowth organising educational programs and facilitating networking spaced in Catalonia and the Mediterranean.
Since obtaining a Master’s in Political Ecology, Degrowth and Environmental Justice at ICTA-UAB, she has lived and been active in militant spaces in Barcelona over the last 6 years. She is particularly passionate about exploring the theory and practice of care in mutual aid contexts. This interest was initially developed while practicing transformative justice in a feminist mutual aid group and was later broadened via self-teaching, whether alone, reading abolitionisit literature, or collectively, via discussion spaces or reading groups in Barcelona. She has also completed an introductory facilitation course with a Restorative Justice focus with Fil a L’Agulla.
Federico
Federico is is a project coordinator at Research and Degrowth. He is also an alumnus of the master’s in Political Ecology at ICTA-UAB, with a thesis on a “Postgrowth deal for Italy”. He is interested in environmental conflicts, post-growth policy and geopolitics, especially with respect to EU-China relations. He co-organized the last two editions of the Degrowth Summer School, coordinating the bike caravan weeks and facilitating counter-cartography workshops. Co-organizer of the Beyond Growth conference Italia (April 2024), he is active in the Italian degrowth movement.
Alexandra
Alexandra has a background in Ecological Economics and Photography. She is in charge of R&Di’s communication and the rest of the time you will find her working on her artistic projects. She loves interdisciplinarity and mixing her many different passions and insterests. Within her ever growing interests lie collective ways of organising, humans’ relationship with nature, ancestral knowledge, ecofeminism and art in its infinite forms.