A key meeting of the European ethical finance sector took place in Dublin on 26-27 September: the FEBEA (Federation of European Ethical and Alternative Banks and Financiers) annual meeting and conference. Hosted by Community Finance Ireland, FEBEA members gathered to vote on the future of the organisation, but also to attend presentations and conferences, to dialogue and debate, and to rethink the social and financial context in which we find ourselves.
The events took place at the Croke Park venue. It was here, on the 26th, that FEBEA members gathered for the Assembly. Under the motto ‘Fighting as one’, the meeting aimed to highlight the importance of networking among the Federation’s entities in Europe. ‘Networking makes us stronger and more resilient, but also brings us closer to our communities,’ said FEBEA President Pedro M. Sasia at the opening of the conference. Partnerships, the growing evolution of the sector and working together are important to defend interests, not only in Europe, but also in the respective countries. In this respect, the participation of Irish Finance Minister Jack Chambers and European Commissioner for Financial Services Mairead McGuinness at the opening of the conference gave a boost to the sector.
Challenges and pitfalls of collective growth
The first panel addressed the challenges and pitfalls of networking. Several FEBEA members explained their current collaborations with specific sectors or partners in their regions, and showed how these alliances strengthen the organisations themselves. Esther Luna, from Colonya Caixa Pollença, stressed the importance of involvement in the local communities in which they work, highlighting, as an example, the local employment opportunities they have created in the municipality of Mallorca where they are located. John Vanwynsberghe, from the Belgian entity Hefboom, stressed the importance of paying attention to the competences and assets available within the networks themselves, defining clear objectives for joint action among the partners. For Bogdan Merfea, from the Romanian organisation AFIN, the common definition of objectives facilitates one of the challenges of networking: aligning people and organisations with different backgrounds but a common objective and scope of action. Finally, Bernard Horenbeek, from the French organisation LaNef, underlined the importance of ongoing collaboration between partner organisations to understand and address each other’s needs.
The second roundtable brought together community development groups from across Ireland. ‘The voluntary sector is the glue that holds society together in difficult times. We are often asked to step in when public funding does not have the solution,’ said Liam Devine, Director of the Clanrye Group. Mary Mullen of Knockatallon Community Dev CL underlined the importance of social and ethical finance in funding community projects, which arise from the needs identified by local people themselves. The key role of volunteers in community groups was also discussed.
Ethical finance is a movement for change
In closing the event, Dónal Traynor, Chief Executive of Community Finance Ireland (CFI), highlighted how ethical finance can bring about real change in local communities. ‘It is difficult for mainstream lenders to offer credit facilities to the voluntary sector and communities in all their diversity, and to focus on the benefits of investing in people and communities rather than on the bottom line and profit margins,’ he said.
Daniel Sorrosal, Secretary General of FEBEA, underlined that the ethical finance movement is gaining momentum across Europe, highlighting housing and climate change as the main challenges currently facing ethical finance in Europe. He encouraged those present to continue to support and fund, through creative tools, the organisations that are helping to address these challenges.
FEBEA has welcomed two new entities as ‘partners’. They are Fundació Seira and Socialni Innovatori. At the same time, a meeting of young people was held (I European Youth Encounter of FEBEA), promoted and organised by the Youth for Fiare group and the Associative Relations area of Fiare Banca Etica. It was attended by students of social finance, the social youth base of certain member entities and young workers from FEBEA members. It was an excellent starting point for future projects aimed at involving young members of the ethical finance sector.
