This Congress, which will be held in Malaga on 22 and 23 November, is organized by the financial education project Edufinet, promoted by Unicaja Banco and Fundación Unicaja. Registration is free and can be made on www.edufinetcongress.com. Supplementary activities will be organized on 20 and 21 November.
The goal of this Congress is to become a meeting point for the main agents involved in financial education to address topics such as the challenges faced by this discipline, the actions to be implemented to boost it or the efficiency of the existing training programmes.
More than fifty speakers and moderators from different fields and from Spanish and European institutions will gather on 22 and 23 November at the Edufinet Financial Education International Congress ‘Realities and Challenges’ (www.edufinetcongress.com), organized in Malaga by the Edufinet Project, promoted by Unicaja Banco and Fundación Unicaja. Before the congress, from Tuesday 20 November, supplementary activities will be organized.
Participants in the Congress include representatives from national and European institutions such as the Bank of Spain, CNMV(Spanish Securities Market National Commission), Funcas (Foundation of Savings Banks), Cecabank, AEB (Spanish Association of Banking) or the EU Economic and Social Committee; professors from national and international universities and business schools; analysts, auditors, financial advisors and consultants; representatives from business associations, as well as journalists specialized in economic information.
Edufinet Financial Education International Congress, with free registration on www.edufinetcongress.com, will be hosted in Unicaja Banco assembly hall, in Avenida de Andalucía, 10-12, Malaga, and the supplementary activities will be organized on 20 and 21 November at Unicaja Financial Education Center (Avenida de Andalucía, 23). It is supported by Funcas and, among its goals, it includes addressing topics as the challenges faced by the financial education, actions to be implemented to boost it or the effectiveness of the existing training programmes.
In sum, the Edufinet Project intends to turn this date into a meeting point for the main agents involved in financial education, such as professionals, scholars and representatives from institutions. However, the Congress is open to the general public.
Ten sessions to address different realities and challenges
The programme of the Congress ‘Realities and Challenges’ will be divided into ten sessions to be held on 22 and 23 November. As previous activities, on 20 November a financial psychology exercise will be carried out and on 21, several workshops will be organized, as well as a special meeting of Cecabank’s Working Group on Financial Education.
With regard to the ten sessions, they will focus choice of topics, organized under different subjects:
- Level of financial education.
- Didactics and methodology of financial education.
- Effects of financial education programmes.
- Good practices in financial education programmes.
- Decision-making. The psychology of financial decisions.
- Financial education and entrepreneurship.
- Economic analysis of the effectiveness of financial education projects.
- Economic-financial knowledge in the educational system. International experience.
- Financial education and the digitalization challenge.
- Financial inclusion.
There will also be a roundtable on financial education from the point of view of the media.
The Congress will include speeches by the Chairman of Fundación Unicaja, Braulio Medel, and of Unicaja Banco, Manuel Azuaga, in the opening and closing session, respectively. The opening session will also be attended by the General Director of Funcas, Carlos Ocaña. Speeches by Unicaja Banco Vice Chairman, Victorio Valle (opening session) and of the General Director of Fundación Unicaja, Sergio Corral (closing ceremony) are also scheduled. The closing will be preceded by the presentation of conclusions by the Head of the Edufinet Project, José M. Domínguez.
Supplementary activities (Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21)
The Congress will be completed with different activities which will be organized at the Unicaja Financial Education Center.
On Tuesday 20 an exercise of financial psychology will be carried out, by means of a test to be completed by the participants in order to assess their answers to financial and economic questions with a psychological component. This activity will be developed without audience.
On Wednesday 21 there will be five workshops on proposals and initiatives on this topic from the basis of the training experience gained; basic concepts of Law for financial education; financial education as a tool for citizens and businesses to learn about the tax system; the role of the media in the dissemination of financial literacy; and financial education, mutual funds and pension plans. The papers submitted to the Congress will be presented on that day and, with no public, the Cecabank Working Group on Financial Education will held a meeting.
Edufinet Project, eleven years of financial education
The Edufinet Project launched in 2007 its Internet portal, fostered by Unicaja, with the collaboration of the Andalusia International University (UNIA, Universidad Internacional de Andalucía) and of the University of Malaga (UMA).
However, its development began in 2005 within Unicaja, which became one of the first financial institutions to launch such an initiative in Spain. Currently, 14 universities and more than ten business institutions and organization collaborate with this project.
Over its eleven years of history, it has received several awards, and over 127,600 people have participated in the different workshops, seminars, courses and conferences organized. 89,000 of them have participated through the Conferences on Financial Education for Young People. The website www.edufinet.com, has registered more than seven million visits, with consultations and access from nearly 180 countries.
