The Worldbuilding Academy: An open source laboratory which imagines the future of economics

Science fiction writers join economists to imagine and shape the future of economics.

Brussels, Berlin, Colombo, Messina, 7 December 2020 at 5 pm CET

Edgeryders’ Sci-Fi Economics Lab, in partnership with Fondazione di Comunità di Messina and with the support of EIT Climate-KIC and Nordisk Kulturfond is organising a webinar to introduce its Worldbuilding Academy, a unique joint-venture of dreamers, scientists and builders which attempts to channel out-of-the box economic thinking around building a fictional world, to serve as the backdrop for works of science fiction or fantasy.

The idea was born when a group of economic apostates encountered the opus of a small patrol of visionary science fiction authors like Cory Doctorow, Bruce Sterling, Neal Stephenson and Peter Watts who had invested a lot of time and brainpower into dreaming up exotic economic systems.

It obviously evolved, started to contemplate different economic systems, became participatory, included a writers residence, a community of global changemakers, moved to the open source world.

A core team started to prepare and pre-populate an online space before opening it to the public and inviting everyone to contribute in building a fictional world.

Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, Nebula-nominated writer and author of Numbercaste, provided the concept note while Sci-Fi Economics Lab gathered a task force including Joriam Ramos, storyteller, film maker and Enspiral’s Catalyst, Alberto Cottica, economist and explorer, Michela De Domenico and Marco Lo Curzio, architects and illustrators .

On 7 December 2020 at 5 PM CET they are holding a free webinar where they will present the concept and the idea of participation.

The webinar is open to everyone and this is the registration form.

Sci-Fi Economics Lab is an Edgeryders project funded by EIT Climate-KIC, a Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC), working to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon, climate-resilient society and supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.



Contact: nadia@edgeryders.eu

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