What is REFA?

REFA is a network of students, academics and civil society organisations – whose purpose is to challenge how economics is taught and learnt in universities, and how it is practiced in the real-world of research and policy-making.

REFA is about making economics accessible to everyone; giving a platform to different points of view and making sure that the economics curriculum is relevant to the real world.

The main themes REFA explores include:

- promoting pluralism in economics (such as exploring different economic schools of thought, and how they apply to real world topics)

- bringing about change in the economics curriculum (including the formal academic economics curriculum, the "extra-curricular" economics curriculum (such as debates, workshops, reading groups) and the public economics (in the form of public education)

- exploring alternative economics and alternative economies.

It is mainly organised as university chapters at a number of South African universities viz. University of the Witwatersrand, University of Cape Town, North West University, University of the Free State, University of Limpopo and others. Chapters organise public debates, reading groups and are moving towards other activities, like curriculum reviews.

Those who are not in a university with a REFA chapter, can be a part of the webinars, activities and reading groups organised throughout the year.

Through this work and the annual REFA Festival, we hope to grow the REFA Movement!