Countering Deregulation: Narrative Power Lab

A wave of deregulation is unfolding across Europe, bolstered by a group of powerful, interlocking narratives. By appealing to widely shared experiences and anxieties, this rhetoric has successfully portrayed a radical, destructive agenda as simple common sense.

To push back, civil society requires its own powerful narratives to engage and mobilise publics. In spring 2026, the Countering Deregulation Narrative Power Lab brought together a cohort of civil society leaders to develop, test and implement new narrative approaches.

At a Glance

  • The core programme consisted of 5 interactive online sessions, designed to support CSOs pushing back against deregulation across Europe
  • Two cohorts of 12 participants worked together to develop & test narrative experiments, co-designing new counter-framings and test them in practice
  • Between sessions, participants were given optional additional reading and exercises, as well as opportunities for further advice and input at drop-in office hours sessions.

We’ll update this page soon with more details of the outcomes of the sessions.

Programme Pricing

Future Narratives Lab is a non-profit with no external grant funding, so in setting prices, we tried to strike a balance between accessibility to all types of organisations, while covering the costs of delivering an effective programme. 

We operated a sliding scale of prices, based on organisation size: €350 for organisations with less than 10 staff, €650 for those with 10-50, and €950 for those with 50+.

Session Summaries

In this session, we:

  • Carefully defined deregulation narratives
  • Examined the current European wave of deregulation narratives, including an analysis of different levels and types as well as their wider context
  • Set intentions for what we were trying to accomplish and how, including specific interventions at different levels, working in strategic groups, designing and testing as we go, and sharing collective learning
  • Got to know each other and formed groups with overlapping interests and concerns

In this session we:

  • Expanded our ‘Theory of Narrative Change’ – i.e. what is needed to counter deregulation narratives in the short and long term, as we build power
  • Considered an example counternarrative experiment 
  • Worked together to set a realistic scale and scope for a counternarrative experiment
  • Worked in groups to start designing a counternarrative experiment, defining audience, objective, and what we could best prove to whom in order to make the most impact

In this session we:

  • Compared different types of testing and their costs, benefits and viability at present. 
  • Selected testing methods based on key questions about what we are seeking to accomplish, what we need to prove, and to whom 
  • Clearly and strategically defined our audience
  • Further refined the designs, and prepared trials together in groups

In this session we:

  • Shared back our testing experiments – what were the results? What lessons were learned? How could we best analyse and interpret these results, and what do they prove?
  • Updated our counternarratives according to our findings
  • Considered how to present persuasive examples from our research, as well as publish and publicise our counternarratives
  • Considered further testing, as well as further implementation of our counternarratives 

In this session we

  • Strategized about how to use this experience and evidence to build power within and beyond your organisation to counter deregulation
  • Practiced brief presentations about our findings to prepare for wider dissemination
  • Discussed where to best find resources for larger projects with even wider reach
  • Considered what can best be done in terms of mobilising, influencing and building resources over time

FAQ

Are you planning to run the Power Lab again?

  • Potentially! Get in touch at info@futurenarrativeslab.org if you are interested in this. 

Were the sessions recorded?

  • The presentations were recorded and shareable for a few days after each session.

Where can I see more about your approach to countering deregulation narratives? 

You may find this blog post informative – let us know any questions.