The Ecofeminist Institute

Trans*ecology and the (Re)naturalisation of Transness: Queer, Decolonial, and de-essentialized Ecofeminist Reflections on Gender, Nature, and Scientific Authority
Lead Instructor: Dr. Asmae Ourkiya

Format: 3-Part Intensive Sunday Course & Collaborative Working Groups

Timeline: November 1, 8, and 15, 2026 from 14:00 to 17:00 CET

For: Faculty, Postdoctoral Fellows, and Advanced Researchers looking to actively integrate trans*ecological frameworks into their current scholarship.

Course overview

This intensive course is designed as an active, collaborative research lab. It moves beyond the mere addition of transgender scholarship to existing environmental frameworks, positioning trans*ecology as a (re)emerging field where transness and ecology reshape one another.

Over three Sundays in November 2026, participants will balance deep theoretical immersion with hands-on, peer-led working group exercises. You will stress-test the science-cultural infrastructures of dimorphic sex classification, deconstruct the coloniality of gender, and collaboratively build new, decategorized methodologies for the contemporary environmental humanities.

Weekly schedule & working group labs

Sunday I: November 1, 2026 | Epistemologies of the asterisk & Queer ecofeminisms

We establish the theoretical lineage from queer ecology to a decolonial and de-essentialized queer ecofeminism, unpacking the typographic and methodological power of the asterisk in trans*ecology.

Core Themes: The metronormative binary; multispecies complexities; the asterisk as a theoretical refusal of cisnormative grammar.
Key literature: Catriona Mortimer-Sandilands, Nicole Seymour, and Greta Gaard.

Sunday II: November 8, 2026 | Scientific Authority, Bias, and the Sex Binary
This session examines how medicine, biology, and state bureaucracies have historically enforced binary sex models to manage populations and regulate reproduction.

Core themes: Chromosomal reductionism (XX/XY shorthand); medical pathologization versus institutional governance; epistemic closure in sex research.
Key kiterature: Anne Fausto-Sterling and contemporary Feminist Science Studies (S. Crasnow).


Sunday III: November 15, 2026 | Decolonial Teleologies & Decategorising Embodiment

Our final session traces how modern/colonial gender systems enacted epistemic violence on Indigenous cosmologies. We explore how the Western devaluation of the environment mirrors the cultural abjection of queer and Black trans bodies.

Core themes: The coloniality of gender; erotophobia as colonial logic; Black trans feminism as a wayward movement; the material ethics of (re)naturalising transness.
Key literature: María Lugones, Marquis Bey, Susan Stryker, and Asmae Ourkiya.


What researchers gain from this course:

Methodological tools: Walk away with actionable strategies to apply "trans-ing" as an analytical method to your own research data, archives, and texts.
Peer-review and collaboration: Benefit from intensive, structured feedback on your current projects from an international cohort of scholars working at the intersection of radical ecological thought.
Interdisciplinary Synergy: Bridge the analytical gaps between environmental humanities, queer theory, decolonial studies, and feminist science studies.

Applications close October 15, 2026.

Course fee: 350 EUR.

To register, fill out this form: https://forms.gle/5mgpMgji9KdWhGpH9 

The Academia Exodus: Your life after the Ph.D.: Strategy, career design, and entrepreneurship

Saturday, June 6, 2026, 14:00 - 17:00 CEST

Course overview

€220 | 3 hours | Max 15 participants | Facilitated by Dr. Asmae Ourkiya and Dr. Simon Clark.

You were conditioned to care about your h-index, your citations, and your departmental politics. But there is a massive, structural gap between being an expert in your field and being an expert in yourself.

This isn't a "how to write a resume" webinar. This is a high-level strategy workshop for researchers who realize that their greatest contribution might lie outside the university walls. We are gathering to bridge the gap between scholarly excellence and real-world impact.

What you will walk away with:

By the end of the session, you will have:

- Lifelong access to the recording: The transition from academia isn't a sprint; it’s a series of pivots. You’ll have the full session archived to revisit whenever you need to recalibrate your strategy.
- Direct Q&A with myself, Dr. Asmae Ourkiya, & Dr. Simon Clark: A rare chance to get unsanitized, direct feedback on your specific hurdles. No academic jargon, but mere honest, strategic dialogue on how to move your career forward.
- The  Academia Exodus Toolkit: Arriving in your inbox the moment we finish, this curated resource, designed specifically for this workshop attendees, is built to accompany your future endeavors. It includes the frameworks we discuss for skill-translation and networking outside the university walls.
- A 14-day action plan with scripts: outreach message, informational interview ask, portfolio artifact plan, and application targets.


Participants will be able to:

Reframe academic work as assets: translate research, teaching, service, and project work into professional outputs and competencies.
Replace precarity with architecture: design multiple viable pathways and run small experiments to reduce risk and increase agency.​

This course will be run virtually, facilitated by Dr. Asmae Ourkiya and Dr. Simon D.A. Clark.

Register here: https://forms.gle/QVwPPARGdPuaHPHh7 

Leadership Lab: Climate Communication & The Polycrisis in an Age of Global Instability

Saturday, August 29 , 2026, 14:00 - 17:00 CET


Course overview:

Effective climate communication in the 21st century requires a sophisticated understanding of the ongoing climate polycrisis: the entanglement of ecological, social, and economic collapses. This lab provides leaders with the rhetorical tools to communicate urgency without inducing apathy.

We focus on resilient messaging to ensure that the communicator remains effective and grounded while navigating high-stakes public discourse.

Course objectives:

  • Analyze the psychological drivers of climate anxiety and institutional paralysis.
  • Develop communication strategies that bridge the "value-action" gap.
  • Synthesize complex scientific and social data into compelling community-led visions.

Course fee: 150 EUR

Register: https://forms.gle/hEqKuXhd5PRRcyme7 

Climate change warning, says newspaper cutting warning

Training for Trainers:
Decolonial Pedagogies for Climate Reporting

Saturday, October 17, 2026, 14:00 - 18:00 CET

Course overview

This advanced pedagogy training is designed for educators, editors, and media trainers seeking to institutionalize decolonial practices.

We will examine the "Western Gaze" in environmental storytelling, participants will learn to build curricula that prioritize Indigenous sovereignty and Global Majority epistemologies. This course moves beyond inclusion toward a fundamental restructuring of how climate knowledge is taught and disseminated.

Course objectives:

  • Evaluate existing climate reporting curricula through a decolonial and anti-racist lens.
  • Develop skills to facilitate high-level workshops on climate reparations and historical accountability.
  • Develop pedagogical tools that center marginalized voices without extractive practices.

Training fee: 350 EUR

Register: https://forms.gle/cmNuptQaJy5eYWKRA 

Businesswoman giving presentation on screen during meeting in a modern office

(Registration CLOSED)

Executive Workshop: Ecofeminist Journalism & Narrative Authority at the Intersection of Gender and Ecology 

Saturday, April 18, 2026, 14:00 - 17:00 CET

Course overview

10 participants max | €150 | ≤15% lecture, ≥85% guided practice

Climate writing doesn’t fail because people don’t care, it fails because unconscious colonial and biased language along with dominant neutral frames keep reproducing colonial and patriarchal story logic. This is a high-touch writing lab, stemming from queer intersectional decolonial ecofeminism, where you put theory into practice and produce powerful passages, workshop them in small groups, and leave with an outlet-ready draft path, supported by ecofeminist tools you can apply immediately for any future writing.

What you’re paying for: A cap of 10 people so you get direct editorial attention, not a webinar. You also get the recording of the workshop sent to you after completion + a certificate of completion. 

Structured work time + coached revision.

A facilitated peer-workshop method (clear prompts + feedback rules) that consistently improves drafts and exercises in working groups. 
​
Is this workshop for you? It is designed for:

Scholars, journalists, writers, and policy developers who want to write environmental pieces that are analytically sharp, politically accountable, and publishable.

What you will leave with:

By the end of the 3 hours, you will have:

A refined angle statement (your ecofeminist lens in 2–3 sentences).

A strong story architecture: outline + section headings + argument/throughline.

800–1,200+ words of drafted or revised text (target range; depends on your starting point).

A 2-week revision + submission plan (next steps, not vague inspiration).


The opportunity to publish your piece for The Ecofeminist Institute's Blog.

Core skills you’ll practice

Turning ecofeminist theory into reporting decisions.

Detecting and rewriting default dualisms (nature/culture, rational/emotional, human/nonhuman) as craft moves.

Writing the persuasive longform feature or op-ed.

3-hour structure (designed for practice)

This follows a mini-lesson → work time → workshop model where most time is spent writing and revising.
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Register here: https://forms.gle/vvBSqv5WaNbZ3RvE6 or this secure express checkout payment link to grab your spot.