Article by Andrea Rodríguez Valdés, Ripess Europe
RIPESS Europe is delighted to announce the start of a new project on youth and ethical finance. This Erasmus+ project that has just begun and has a duration of one year, will be led by APDES, and will have the participation of other members specialized in Ethical Finance and / or Youth of Mediterranean Europe: DOCK, from Greece, Scomondo, from Italy, Ethical Finance Foundation and Economists Without Borders, from Spain.
This project is based on the idea that the next generations have a fundamental role in creating a more sustainable, equitable and just future. At the same time, it recognises that young people are suffering from various constraints due to previous economic crises that have been increasing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this sense, the paradigm shift is now more necessary than ever. This project, which emerged within the RIPESS Europe working group on Youth & SSE, aims on the one hand to promote ethical and solidarity finance, and on the other, to empower young people through this tool and build with the new generations, the bases for a just economic transition.
In this way, “YOU’conomy: A youth-led initiative for ethical finance” is the recognition of the work of young people and their priority role not only in the leadership of social movements towards a global economic transition, but also the innovative capacity of the collective to build joint community-based experiences in order to democratize finance and the economy. The project will raise awareness of the negative impacts of conventional finance (speculation with basic goods such as food, housing and energy) and highlight the advantages of banking and ethical finance that promote agroecology and fair trade, decent housing, education and community development in both the north and south of the world. Above all, it will emphasize the idea that ethical finance allows access to money to traditionally excluded groups: youth, migrants and women or other dissident identities.
In addition, it will build common spaces in which to exchange ideas and tools to carry out an international campaign led by young people that has the elements and actions necessary to influence the public sphere. All this always understanding young people as an active part of the project and not as mere recipients of a set of imposed guidelines.
Follow the information of this project on our website.
