When: Thursday 26 February 2026, 16:00–19:00 (CET)
Where: A1 Room, AHO, Maridalsveien 29, Oslo
Hosts: SDA Norway, Rethinking Economics Norge, Attac Norge
Refreshments: Light snacks and drinks provided
Systemic designers and alternative economics people care about many of the same things, but they almost never sit in the same room poking at the same problems. This event puts those communities side by side around big visual maps of “the economy”, and asks what else could be possible beyond the default 9 to 5.
We will put money, work, and resource flows on the table, then use conversation, sketches, and sticky notes to stretch what feels plausible and desirable. Designers bring mapping, storytelling, and visualisation. Alternative economists bring depth on how systems actually function. Together, we test what happens when those skills meet in a dialogical, hands-on format.
The topics that will be explored at the event
No prep, no lectures, just turn up
You do not need to prepare anything in advance or be an expert. Bring your perspective, questions, and whatever skills you have in thinking, noticing, capturing, and communicating. Help make complex ideas visible, and leave with a few concrete ideas for what we could do next.
What will happen in the room
– A short framing of the event and the topic tables
– Several rounds of table conversations around large visual canvases
– People add sticky notes, circle connections, draw simple diagrams, and bring examples from their own work
– Table hosts help keep the pace, and keep things visual (not just text)
– A final scan of the maps to mark out ideas worth taking further
– Brief plenary share-back from each table
Why we are doing this
We suspect that important perspectives on how economies actually work, and how they could work, slip through the cracks when these communities stay separate or speak different “languages”.
Designers (even systemic designers) do not always have the concrete mechanics of the economy and finance on their radar, which can quietly limit what futures feel feasible. Meanwhile, the 9 to 5 wage job is so normalised that it is hard to even see it as a design choice.
Alternative economists bring ideas that can expand what designers consider plausible. At the same time, economists and organisers can benefit from designerly ways of working: making ideas tangible, contextual, and discussable through shared visuals and dialogical formats.
This event is a small test of what we can do together.
Attendance
Please confirm attendance via the sign up form:
– Sign up form (open in private window to avoid need to sign in)
– Facebook event
If you have relevant examples, stories, references, or critiques from your own work, feel free to bring them to enrich the canvases.