The social scientist and consultant Kristina Bayer studied in Berlin, Heidelberg and Sāo Paulo, and has currently received her doctorate from Kassel University on "Consultation for Sustainable Economies." Since 1989, she has taken part regularly in projects in Brazil (trade union education, human rights), and from the mid` 90`s has participated in various self-governing initiatives in Berlin (free shops, an inter-cultural garden in Freiedrichshain/Kreuzberg, the education initiative "Rückenwind", among others). In 2005, Bayer delegated at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. In 2007, she co-founded the Association for the Advancement of Solidarity Economy and the Regional Sustainability Forum of Northern Hesse at Kassel University. She currently serves there as an active consultant for solidarity economy.