1.1.1. What is the Svartlamo(e)n ideology?

What is the Svartlamo(e)n Ideology?

Svartlamo(e)n is well known for volunteer work where everyone who lives there must contribute to the community. It is a community where there is a lot of focus on ‘do it yourself’ principle, right from maintain their own houses and community, to managing other duties amongst themselves.

The Svartlamon foundation manages the area which includes the residents’ association, housing association and culture and commerce association. These associations include residents and volunteers of Svartlamon who organize and manage the community and the area. This is done by the residents’ meetings, which have a flat structure and decisions are taken with a common consensus so that everyone’s voice is equally heard.

There are many working groups and activities here and many ways to get involved, and the residents take their own initiative and contact the group or activity they want to contribute. There are several enterprises that run on a voluntary basis, others have the business as a source of income, but often with an idealistic approach.

In media Svartlamo(e)n is portrayed as an alternative space where sustainability is in focus. At the same time there are questions about the low rent and comments on politics. The presentation varies, however there are several positives for example: the article from Aftenposten “Five houses for five families for three million kroner” (Knutli, 2021), shows that the community is conscious of the cost of housing, and try to make housing affordable and accessible to more people

Figure 7: Infographic of Svartlamo(e)n HIstorical Timeline, Authors