The Edufinet Project, promoted by Unicaja Banco and Fundación Unicaja, is already working in the planning of the activities to be carried out during the school year 2021-2022. These activities include a new videogame on basic financial concepts for primary education students (8-12 years-old), a group for which Edufinet has designed specific seminars on financial education. Additionally, new spaces will be added to its website, such as a microsite on sustainable finance, and more collaborating institutions will join the project.
Edufinet has also planned other activities, such as reinforcing its presence in social media, considering even the creation of a profile on LinkedIn, which will join the profiles on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube; a series of meetings and talks on finance with renowned persons (Edufinet Talks); new webinars and podcasts or an educational museum-library with more than 150 works on different topics and for different publics (financial education, finance, businesses, economy, law, etc.).
A specific guide on variable income, the seventh edition of the Financial Guide and a board game are other initiatives foreseen by Edufinet for the school year 2021-2022.
All of the previous has been announced at a meeting held to take stock of the actions developed during this present school year, and where some of the scheduled activities for the next year have been presented.
The event had the participation of the Head of the Edufinet Project, José M. Domínguez; the General Manager of Fundación Unicaja, Sergio Corral; the Head of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at Unicaja Banco, José María López, and members of Edufinet working team. At this event, members of the Edufient working team have received the certificates of the training they have completed in collaboration with Esesa. It should be noted that this training initiative got the first position in the Area of Financial Education, in the category of adults, at the CECA Awards of Welfare Projects and Financial Education 2019-2020.
In addition to that award, Edufinet also received this year a mention by the United Nations Institute for Professional Training and Research (Unitar) for its commitment to financial education and inclusion and for its support to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 2030 Agenda.
New web spaces
Edufinet is working in the update of the contents on its website, as well as on specific portals such as Edufinext, for young people; Edufiemp¸ for business owners and entrepreneurs, and which features EdufiAgro, a section which will have its own independent space; EdufiTech, focused on the commitment of the traditional financial sector to new technologies and digital transformation; and EdufiSport, on financial education and sports.
The Lectures on Financial Education for Young People and the Financial Olympics will have again a special role during the school year 2021-2022, reaching their 13th edition. The goal of those activities, to be held from October 2021 to March 2022, online or in person, depending on the health situation, is to provide the participants with a clear view of the world of the economy and finances, adapted to the profile and needs of each group. Together with these actions, Edufinet will organize the 5th Lectures on Financial Education for Vocational Training Students.
The 4th Edufinet Congress on Financial Education is scheduled to be held on 18 and 19 November, online and also in person, if so allowed by the health situation.
Seminars for students
Regarding the activities organized during the school year about to end, special attention is to be paid to the more than 7,000 students of Secondary Education and Baccalaureate, from 35 provinces throughout Spain, who, despite the situation caused by the COVID-19, have participated in the 12th Lectures on Financial Education for Young People. This edition has been held online with high schools in Andalusia, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid, Extramadura, Aragón, Canarias, Cantabria, Cataluña, Comunidad Valenciana, Galicia, Islas Baleares, La Rioja, Navarra, Principado de Asturias and Región de Murcia. Since it was first organized, more than 131,400 students have attended this initiative.
After the lectures, it was the turn of the 12th Financial Olympics, a competition to show what had been learnt at the Lectures on Financial Education for Young People. Due to the situation caused by the COVID-19, the event was held exclusively online and it registered 1,035 students.
The 3rd Congress on Financial Education ‘Financial Education for a new economic and social order’ was also organized in November 2020. It received more than 530 registrations and the collaboration of more than 60 experts from different disciplines.
Initiatives with new groups
The goal of Edufinet continues to be taking financial education to the largest number of groups. In this sense, it should be noted the organization this year of an online workshop for the members of Madrid Asperger Association.
In October, coinciding with the Financial Education Day, the Edufinet Project presented a videogame for mobile devices and designed to teach secondary education students basic financial and economic concepts.
With the organization of a webinar on the importance of sustainable finance, the Edufinet Project joined the Global Money Week, a global event held in March to ensure that young people learn about sustainable finance and are able to make sound financial decisions.
The Edufinet Project, with more than 15 years of history, collaborates with more than ten business institutions and organizations, as well as with 16 universities. All of the above has made Unicaja, one of the first institutions in Spain to launch an initiative of this kind, to be one of the most active agents in the field of financial education and inclusion, in the exercise of its CSR and its commitment to society, both by Unicaja Banco and by Fundación Unicaja.
Its website (www.edufinet.com), which includes systematic and practical information in a question & answer format and where no previous knowledge is required to get the most of the contents, has registered so far nearly 10 million visits, with consults and access from 180 countries.
