Olga Koretskaya focuses in her research on how could academic literature generate potential social impact using sustainability transformations beyond capitalism and find new ways to improve societal debate in different fields

This PhD project focuses on makers and makerspaces in urban economies and their potential to facilitate sustainability transformation beyond capitalism. Makerspaces are workspaces where people with common interests, such as technology, science, crafts and art can work, socialize and collaborate. This type of small-scale craft and digital production has grown into the makers movement.

It supports learning and innovation, enables the use of locally-sourced materials, strengthens communities, and therefore is sometimes seen as a prefiguration of degrowth, post-capitalist economy. Existing academic literature, however, does not yet provide a holistic understanding of what features of the makerspaces are alternative to business-as-usual practices.

My research will address this gap and will potentially generate social impact due to new knowledge on an under-researched topic of sustainability transformations beyond capitalism. It will also contribute to the societal debate on emerging imaginaries for ecologically sustainable and socially just forms of economic organization such as Doughnut Economy, Wellbeing Economy, post-growth and degrowth.

“My current research focuses on making practices in contemporary urban economies and their potential to facilitate sustainability transformation beyond capitalism”