ARETE Institute for Sustainable Prosperity

ARETE Institute for Sustainable Prosperity is an interdisciplinary research and action-oriented organisation based in Skopje and Zagreb, working on the social and political dimensions of sustainable transition.

Our work brings together social research, community organising, participatory methods and place-based experimentation. We are interested in how communities can play an active role in shaping the systems and spaces in which they live, and in how transitions can strengthen collective capacity, social solidarity and democratic participation.

ARETE builds on experience in community organising, right-to-the-city approaches and struggles around urban and common resources in Skopje and Southeast Europe. Through initiatives including the Skopje LeftEast Encounter, members of our team have engaged with questions of neighbourhood organising, public space, environmental resources, social centres, privatisation and the collective use of the city. These discussions centred on how urban and natural resources are shaped by processes of dispossession, but also on the alternative forms of solidarity, cooperation and local organising that emerge in response.

Much of our current applied work focuses on sustainable food systems, including public food environments, schools, municipalities and Living Labs. We are also interested in the wider transformation of everyday urban systems and spaces, including reuse of vacant and underused spaces, urban commons, waste and circularity, public space, neighbourhood regeneration, environmental justice and community-led approaches to urban change.

Across these areas, we are particularly interested in the relationship between the built environment and everyday life: who has access to resources and spaces, whose needs shape their transformation, and how communities can participate collectively in making places more sustainable, inclusive and liveable.

Our expertise includes participatory and qualitative research, behavioural and social science, Living Labs, stakeholder and community engagement, co-design, social impact assessment and the translation of local knowledge into policy and practice.