Announcements

ENERGY AS A COMMONS Summer School co-organized by NKUA’s STS graduate program

ENERGY AS A COMMONS Summer School co-organized by NKUA’s STS graduate program

Researchers from around the world participated in the ‘ENERGY AS A COMMONS’ International SUMMER SCHOOL at the Tzoumerka mountains, Epirus (late August to early September of 2022), which was financially supported by a European Research Council (ERC) Horizon 2020 grant. It was co-organized by the P2P Lab of Tallinn University of Technology and the NKUA Interdepartmental Graduate Program ‘Science, Technology, Society – Science and Technology Studies (STS)” (Department of History and Philosophy of Science & Department of informatics and Telecommunications, School of Science).

The Summer School focused on the socio-technical transition from centralised and fossil-fuel-based energy technologies, which induce mass consumption, to an environmentally sustainable, decentralized and socially just energy economy. Facilitators and graduate/doctoral students co-created a learning environment to collaboratively investigate alternative technological and social trajectories under an energy commons framework.

The summer school included both theoretical and hands-on exploration of environmentally sustainable technological trajectories. The theoretical exploration was facilitated by Tallin University Professor Vasilis Kostakis, recipient of an ERC grant, and Dr. Chris Giotitsas. Professor David Hughes, Rutgers University, USA, and Professor Aristotle Tympas, director of the NKUA graduate program that co-organized the workshop, presented findings from the anthropology and the history of energy that confirm the potential of the aforementioned transition. The hands-on exploration included the collaborative building of parts of an open-source and small-scale wind turbine, through interdisciplinary inputs from both the human-social sciences and the engineering sciences and physics.

Pictures:

(1) Antonis Faras and Panagiotis Kazantzas, doctoral students at the NKUA History and Philosophy of Science Department, get a hands-on exposure to the socio-technical tradeoffs involved in designing and constructing a blade for an open-source and small-scale wind turbine.

(2)The Summer School participants pose in front of the small-scale wind turbine that they collaboratively constructed during the workshop evenings, under the guidance of engineer Kostas Latoufis, a world-class designer and builder of open-source wind energy turbines.

(3) Discussion facilitation by ERC grant recipient Vasilis Kostakis, co-organizer of the Summer School, Professor of P2P Governance at TalTech and Faculty Associate at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center.

The “MOVE AS YOU ARE” Program – Project is co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ program in the field of Sports

The “MOVE AS YOU ARE” Program – Project is co-funded by the European Union through the Erasmus+ program in the field of Sports

Globally, the Child Eye Health organization estimates that at least 450 million children have vision conditions requiring treatment, and 90 million children live with some form of vision loss. In Europe, the European Blind Union (EBU) (https://www.euroblind.org/) estimates that 30 million people are visually impaired. These figures highlight the significant scale of the problem and […]

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens ranks first in Greece and Cyprus – Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings 2025 and US News Global University Rankings 2025-2026 announced

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens ranks first in Greece and Cyprus – Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings 2025 and US News Global University Rankings 2025-2026 announced

US News & World Report Media Company has recently published the results of its Best Global Universities Rankings for 2025-2026. In this 11th consecutive annual edition of the US News Best Global Universities Rankings, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens placed 1st among Greek and Cypriot Universities and 216th worldwide. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki […]

Once again, top-scoring candidates choose the University of Athens

Once again, top-scoring candidates choose the University of Athens

It is a day of joy for many candidates who have recently sat the nationwide examinations for admission to Greece’s Higher Educational Institutions. Among this year’s top achievers—those scoring over 19,000 points—a significant number have once again set their sights on enrolling in the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). One of the highest […]

Renovated ‘New Chemistry Laboratory Building’ opens officially – School of Education, Library of the Department of Economics

Renovated ‘New Chemistry Laboratory Building’ opens officially – School of Education, Library of the Department of Economics

In a particularly symbolic and emotional opening ceremony, the renovated ‘New Chemistry Laboratory Building’ was officially handed over to the academic community of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. This historic building lies at the heart of Athens, surrounded on three sides by Mavromichali, Navarinou, and Charilaou Trikoupi streets. With the completion of the […]

Prof. Dr. Xenofon Baraliakos, Medical Director of the Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet, Herne, and Doctor Honoris Causa of the School of Medicine of the University of Athens, is the new president of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR)

Prof. Dr. Xenofon Baraliakos, Medical Director of the Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet, Herne, and Doctor Honoris Causa of the School of Medicine of the University of Athens, is the new president of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR)

Prof. Dr. Xenofon Baraliakos, Medical Director of the Rheumazentrum Ruhrgebiet, Herne, and Professor for Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at the Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, is the new president of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR). During his two-year term, he plans to implement a number of measures aimed at further improving patient care […]

Alpha TV: NKUA ranks among the top 100 Universities in the world

Alpha TV: NKUA ranks among the top 100 Universities in the world

Rectors and Vice-Rectors from 54 Universities in Europe met at the historic main building of the University of Athens to participate in the 35th General Assembly of the UNICA Network of Universities from the Capitals of Europe, which took place for the first time in Greece earlier this month. At the same time, the University […]

The 35th General Assembly of the Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA) closes at NKUA with great success and participation from across the continent

The 35th General Assembly of the Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA) closes at NKUA with great success and participation from across the continent

With the symbolic strength of Athens’ scholarly tradition encompassing contemporary academic collaboration, the 35th General Assembly of the Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA) closed at the historic main building of the University of Athens. The proceedings began on Thursday, 19 June, with the UNICA Administrative General Assembly. The meeting, held in a hybrid […]

University of Athens

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, which was inaugurated on May 3, 1837, was initially housed in a renovated Ottoman building on the northeastern side of the Acropolis. This building has since been restored and now functions as the University Museum. Originally named the "Othonian University," after Otto, the first king of Greece, it consisted of four academic departments and 52 students. As the first university of the newly established Greek state, as well as of the broader Balkan and Mediterranean region, it assumed an important socio-historical role, which was pivotal in the development of specific forms of knowledge and culture within the country.

Stay Connected

Follow hub.uoa.gr on Social Media

closebutton
Skip to content