More than 1,200 people have confirmed their attendance to the National Assembly in Laugardalshöll conference hall in Reykjavík on Saturday. Invitations were sent to 1,500 Icelanders at random, aged 18 and older.
The youngest person to register is 18 and the oldest 88, Fréttabladid reports.
The National Assembly is organized by a group which calls itself the Anthill, and the idea is to collect ideas from Icelanders on how to move forward after the economic crisis. A sample of 1,500 people is considered a valid cross-section of the Icelandic nation.
People who live outside the capital region will be flown in to Reykjavík for free. The assembly begins at 9 am and ends with a meat soup feast in the evening.
Participants will be divided into discussion groups and trained moderators will lead discussions in each group. The assembly’s conclusions will be registered and made public.
According to the National Assembly’s website, a number of individuals, companies, institutions and organizations are contributing towards the organization of the event and covering the cost, estimated ISK 27 million (USD 217,000, EUR 134,000).
The Icelandic government joined the group of supporters on Friday when its ministers decided at a cabinet meeting to contribute ISK 7 million (USD 56,000, EUR 35,000) to the National Assembly.
Organizers are now busy planning the final details of the event.
The initiative has caught the attention of foreign media representatives. A journalist from The Economist is among those who will cover the event as well as German freelance journalist Alva Gehrmann, who was interviewed by Mbl TV.
Click here to read more about the event.
