The National Assembly of 2009 () was an assembly of Icelandic citizens at the Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík on November 14, 2009 in the wake of the

2008–2011 Icelandic financial crisis The Icelandic financial crisis was a major economic and political event in Iceland that involved the default of all three of the country's major privately owned commercial banks in late 2008, following their difficulties in refinancing their ...

, organized by a group of

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

organizations including the Ministry of Ideas (Icelandic: Hugmyndaráðuneytið), collectively called "the Anthill" (Icelandic: ''Mauraþúfan'').

Organisation

1500 people were invited to participate in the assembly; of these, 1200 were chosen at random from the national registry, while 300 were representatives of companies, institutions and other groups. Divided into 162 working groups of 9 each including trained moderators, participants discussed the values underpinning Icelandic society, the direction Iceland should be taking in the future, and other issues. In the end, it was determined that the most important value was integrity / honesty, followed by equal rights,

respect Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also the process of ...

and justice, then love, responsibility,

freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

and democracy, with family, equality and trust also being considered important. Other topics discussed included education, family, welfare, economy, environment,

, opportunities, and public administration. Participants represented a cross section of Icelandic society, ranging in age from 18 to 88 and spanning all six constituencies of Iceland, with 73, 77, 89, 365 and 621 people attending from the

Northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

Northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, Southwest and Reykjavík (combined), respectively; 47% of the attendants were women, while 53% were men. Participants not from the Reykjavík area were flown in for free; the event's total cost of 27 million ISK was covered by individuals, companies and other institutions, with the Icelandic government contributing 7 million ISK. The event was followed by both Icelandic and international media, with journalists from The Economist and other media attending.

Organisation

References

Further reading

TV/radio coverage on RÚV

External links