About us

We support a social-ecological transformation towards a new economic model. One based on cooperation instead of competition, care instead of exploitation and democratic forms of ownership. We know that no one can plan such a process from the table. We are convinced that systemic change cannot happen without broad participation of the people and social pressure from below. We support social movements and initiatives seeking diverse changes for the better in all areas of life. Together we seek ways to create a good life for all.

Who we are

We are a non-hierarchical self-directed collective, which means we have no bosses, we make decisions together and share responsibility for the running of the organisation. We try innovative approaches to work and set working hours according to our needs, which occupies an important role in our vision of a fair company. We regularly reflect and change our internal functioning, not stagnating in established rules. We look for ways to collectively care for our members and seek to help other organisations and movements on these issues. We are working towards a four-day work week, equal pay and a minimum decent wage. In doing so, we try to internalise the values we hold in relation to wider society in our own work.

What we do

Today's economic model, based on profit maximisation and growth at any cost, does not serve us well. Rather than ensuring a decent life for all within the means of our planet, it concentrates wealth in the hands of a privileged few and generates ever more abysmal social disparities. It is destroying the ecological basis of human life on Earth and further deepening injustice by plundering natural resources. It also undermines democracy and entrenches power inequalities that prevent the vast majority of people from participating effectively in determining the conditions of their lives.

We seek and promote solutions to the causes of social and environmental problems. We focus on the role of oligarchs, banks and insurance companies in accelerating the climate crisis, on rental housing, energy poverty, just transformation and the creation and strengthening of existing economic structures based on solidarity.

We support grassroots initiatives and groups of people organising from below. We engage in political education - we organize workshops focused on practical skills relevant to the functioning of social and climate movements. Through these, movements recruit and strengthen their capacities so that they can collectively advance their interests.

We help to establish, scale up and raise the profile of pilot economic alternatives projects such as social and consumer cooperatives and link them to the social and climate movement, trade unions and other groups and initiatives. We network actors who want to participate in the social-ecological transformation of the economy.

We focus on the Central and Eastern European context. We take our local specificities into account, we do not try to adopt universal models.

Climate Justice

Global heating caused by two centuries of economic growth based on ever-increasing consumption of fossil energy causes escalating disruptions to our climate which endanger both human welfare and the long-term habitability of our planet. We are in the middle of a climate crisis - manifesting itself also in the current European droughts - which weighs heaviest on socially disadvantaged groups of people and thus deepens the already gross social inequalities. This is true both within the Czech republic, and throughout the world, where the changing climate has the worst impact on the poor countries of the Global South.

Housing

The share of tenants in the housing market is constantly growing, and in large cities in the Czech Republic they currently account for up to a third of the population. Their protection, however, is minimal. Rental prices are rising much faster than salaries and lease contracts are usually concluded for only one year, sometimes even less. People in rented accommodation are therefore living in constant insecurity and their housing costs are increasing.

Democratization of energy

There are approximately one million people living in energy poverty in the Czech Republic and we are one of them. The energy crisis is causing major energy companies, including fossil fuel companies, to make record profits, while consumers face ever-increasing energy costs. Decarbonising the energy sector and fundamentally transforming the energy market are essential to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. However, if we remain passive consumers, we will continue to be exposed to market fluctuations and uncertainties.

Education

Our educational projects open up debate about the causes of social and environmental problems and develop the skills needed to solve them. We organise ourselves according to the principles of self-management and organise training courses in which we introduce self-management and help to apply it in practice. We use non-formal education methods and learn from each other.

Solidarity Economy

What is the economy and what or who is it for? The original meaning of the word refers to "household management". A well-managed economy could administer our planetary “household” to meet the needs of all within the boundaries of our planet. Instead, the current economy hoards meaningless wealth in the hands of a few, while denying access to basic needs for the majority and devastating the ecological foundations of life on our planet.

Financing the climate collapse

In the world of financial institutions, the fossil fuel industry still enjoys great support. If we are to avoid the worst effects of the climate crisis, we need financial institutions to stop supporting coal-fired power stations and to refuse to participate in the planned development of gas infrastructure, waste incineration, unsustainable biomass management and other unethical activities of fossil fuel companies.

Members

Barbora Adamková

Barbora works on educational projects focused on climate justice, degrowth and civic participation. She is a lecturer in an informal education and a trained environmentalist.

barbora.adamkova@re-set.cz

Barbora Bakošová

Barbora focuses on solidarity economies and their development. In the past she worked as an environmental journalist and was active in the organization NESEHNUTÍ. She is an active cooperative worker in the Brno social cooperative Tři Ocásci.

barbora.bakosova@re-set.cz

Ludmila Böhmová

Ludmila is a founding member of the Tenants' Initiative (INN), which seeks to create space for tenants, develop solidarity between them and represent their rights. She has long been involved in social movements in both theory and practice.

Mikuláš Černík

Mikuláš focuses on climate justice and socio-ecological transformation. He is completing his PhD at Masaryk University in Brno about civil resistance to coal mining.

mikulas.cernik@re-set.cz

Veronika Dombrovská

Veronika is interested in connecting climate and social issues, especially housing. At Re-set she works on a campaign against energy poverty. She is active in the Limity jsme my movement and the Tenants' Initiative.

veronika.dombrovska@re-set.cz

Petr Doubravský

Petr studies environmental science and economics at Masaryk University in Brno. He is most interested in the socio-ecological transformation of the financial sector. In 2019, he was at the birth of the high school movement Fridays for Future. At Re-set, he works on issues of a swift and just end to coal and engaging people in public and political affairs.

petr.doubravsky@re-set.cz

Veronika Dvorská

At Re-set, Veronika is in charge of coordinating communication, especially around topics such as climate justice and the transition to carbon-free energy. She is active in the Hlavák Initiative. In her spare time she likes gardening and writes short stories and poems.

veronika.dvorska@re-set.cz

Matyáš Jakubů

Matyáš is interested in rental housing issues and is an organizer in the Tenants' Initiative. He is also active in the climate movement, where he is involved in recruitment. In his spare time, he enjoys cycling and listening to pop.

Kateřina Holá

Kateřina works as an organizer of an energy cooperative in the Ústí nad Labem region. She studies anthropology and social work, where she is interested in energy poverty, mutual aid networks and participation in social policy-making. She is active in the climate justice movement Limits are Us.

katerina.hola@re-set.cz

Barbora Jelínková

At Re-set, Barbora works as a communications coordinator and organizer. She is one of the founding members of the Tenants' Initiative. As part of her studies in urban sociology, she is interested in the housing crisis, urban design, urban sustainability and conservation issues. She also writes about these topics for the media. She enjoys gardening, reading, caring for her dog, and listening to dark music.

barbora.jelinkova@re-set.cz

Katarína Kováčová

Katarína works on the international climate movement coordination against insurance companies that support the fossil fuel industry. She has been active in the climate justice movement for many years, working on issues of degrowth, transformative education and imagination.

kkovacova96@gmail.com

Radek Kubala

Radek focuses on climate justice, degrowth economy and just transition to a carbon-free economy. As a journalist and environmental activist, he has long written for Deník Referendum and worked for Greenpeace Slovakia.

radek.kubala@re-set.cz

Jakub Mácha

Jakub works as a project coordinator and facilitator of informal education in projects linking the themes of climate justice and just transition. As a social anthropologist, he works on housing issues in an interdisciplinary research team at the Faculty of Social Anthropology at the Faculty of Fine Arts at Brno University of Technology.

jakub.macha@re-set.cz

Bětka Moravcová

In Re-set, Bětka is in charge of the administrative and finance agenda.

Yuliya Moskvina

Yuliya is dedicated to housing and the right to the city. As a sociologist, she is interested in urban movements and democracy in the city.

Jakub Nakládal

Jakub deals with housing, right to the city and urban development issues. He researches and promotes the causes and solutions to the housing crisis. As an architect, he organizes critical walks through Prague's neighbourhoods.

jak.nakladal@gmail.com

Jakub Ort

Jakub has worked on projects related to housing rights and the city. Now he coordinates Ulex courses and workshops on organizing and political strategy.

jakub.ort@re-set.cz

Josef Patočka

Josef works on research and education on social-ecological transformation and supporting the movement for a transition to a green and solidarity economy. He focuses on the politics of transition in the energy and housing sectors, and on the issues of energy poverty and the democratization of the energy sector. He studied sociology and political science in Brno and Prague. He enjoys cooking and knows he can do it.

josef.patocka@re-set.cz

David Scharf

In Re-set he is involved in rental housing, working as an organizer in the Tenants' Initiative. In addition, he is a journalist, enjoys reading, walking and playing football in his free time.

Marika Volfová

Marika has long been active as a community organizer and facilitator in the climate justice movement. At Re-set, she focuses on the issue of just transformation of coal regions, especially the Ústi (Aussig) region, where she lives and climate movement building. She is also active in the Limity jsme my movement.

marika.volfova@re-set.cz