Ire FINK, M.A.

Since October 2026, I have been working as a research associate on the DFG-funded project Alternative economies and the socio-ecological transformation: The case of agri-food cooperatives. Over the three-year research project, we are examining the potential and limitations of cooperatives in contributing to the socio-ecological transformation of the agri-food system. Based on qualitative case studies in Lower Franconia (Planning Region 2, Würzburg), we analyse their contributions to sustainability, democratic structures, regional embeddedness and spatial dynamics. The aim is to identify and examine the opportunities and contradictions of cooperative forms of economic organisation, both theoretically and empirically.

My academic path led me from the interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree in Environmental and Bio-Resource Management at BOKU University in Vienna, which provided me with broad insights into environmental and sustainability issues, to the master’s programme Agroecology: An Approach to Rural Sustainability (Agroecología: un Enfoque para la Sustentabilidad Rural) in Spain. This programme introduced me not only to new social science perspectives on a subject often perceived as primarily natural-scientific, but also to an intercultural learning environment in which I engaged with decolonial and feminist perspectives on sustainable agri-food systems.

In my master’s thesis, I conducted an exploratory study of the living situations, working practices and agricultural concepts of queer people in Austrian agriculture. My aim was to increase the visibility of a previously invisible group and to develop a better understanding of the connections between agriculture, queerness and rural spaces. My current research interests focus on …

This perspective is complemented by professional experience as a student research assistant, in policy consulting and in policymaking processes. In addition, I have experience in developing and delivering agroecological educational programmes in the NGO sector, as well as practical experience in vegetable production.