The Economy of Francesco, an international event featuring young economists and entrepreneurs from all over the world, will start on Thursday 19 November and will be streamed live on the portal francescoeconomy.org.
The "virtual” participation of Pope Francis has been confirmed: at the end of the three days there will be a video message from him to the young participants to be connected with the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi via web. For the occasion, on November 21st, at 11pm (Italian time), the monument to Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro will be illuminated with the symbolic colours of The Economy of Francesco: green, brown and yellow.
The event will open at 2 p.m. with Listen to the cry of the poorest to transform the earth, a video by the International Movement ATD Fourth World, the message of the Prefect of the Department for the Service of Integral Human Development, Cardinal Peter Turkson, and the words of welcome by the Organizing Committee. The conferences will be opened by economist Jeffrey Sachs with "Perfecting Joy: three proposals to let life flourish".
"Thanks to St. Francis and Pope Francis the largest movement of young economists in the world was born. This is the news that society and the Church need today," said the Scientific Director of The Economy of Francesco, Luigino Bruni.
The event, in an online version, will allow all the young members (2000 of them from 120 countries) to participate in the meeting under the same conditions, to share their experiences, work, proposals and reflections they have accumulated in recent months. The programme of the digital event will be innovative, participatory, global. There will be 4 hours a day of live streaming and a 24-hour marathon on November 20th, thanks to the connections and contributions of young people connected in 20 different countries and Assisi will host the "direction" of the event and live connections from the historic Franciscan places: the Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, the Church of San Damiano, the Rivotorto Sanctuary, the Basilica of Santa Chiara, the Sanctuary of the Spoliation and Monte Frumentario Palace.
As is well known, the initiative was developed following the invitation sent by the Holy Father on 1 May 2019, on the occasion of the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, to economists, students and entrepreneurs under 35. Together with young people and a qualified group of experts Pope Francis, in fact, intends to initiate, a process of global change so that the economy of today and tomorrow is fairer, more inclusive and sustainable, without leaving anyone behind. The next meeting, in presence, will also be held in the city of St. Francis and is scheduled for autumn 2021, when health conditions are going to to ensure the participation of all.
The organisation is entrusted to an Organising Committee composed of: Diocesi di Assisi, Istituto Serafico, the Municipality of Assisi, the Economy of Communion, and with the support, on behalf of the Holy See, of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which sponsors the initiative, and the Franciscan Families.
ECONOMY OF FRANCESCO | HOW TO PARTICIPATE
To participate in the event, simply connect to francescoeconomy.org/ and click on the page entirely dedicated to live streaming. The 12 thematic villages, transformed into online work sessions that young people have carried out in recent months are: work and care; management and gift; finance and humanity; agriculture and justice; energy and poverty; vocation and profit; policies and happiness; CO2 of inequalities; business and peace; women for economy; businesses in transition; life and life-style. There will be conferences with internationally renowned speakers, including Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus and, among others, economists and experts such as Kate Raworth, Jeffrey Sachs, Vandana Shiva, Stefano Zamagni, Mauro Magatti, Juan Camilo Cardenas, Jennifer Nedelsky, Sr. Cécile Renouard as well as numerous entrepreneurs with consolidated experience and skills. All speakers will also be available to listen to the young people through personal interviews as well as in interactive sessions of small groups of participants.
ECONOMY OF FRANCESCO | SOME OF THE MEETINGS
On 19th November from 15.40 to 16.30: "Perfecting Joy: three proposals to let life flourish" with Jeffrey Sachs, Ilaria Schnyder von Wartensee and Stefano Bartolini; "Peace economics and industrial reconversion: a recovery plan for the world",with Raul Caruso, Juan Camilo Cárdenas and Susy Snyder. From 16.30 to 17.20: "Experiences in ecological and social transition communities",with Sr. Cécile Renouard.
On 20th November from 14.10 to 15.00: "Generativity, Relational Goods and Civil Economy" with Mauro Magatti, Consuelo Corradi and Leonardo Becchetti; from 15.00: Finance and Humanity: a road towards an integral ecology with Muhammad Yunus; from 16.40 to 17.30: "An economy of abundance: how to foster bottom-up development?" with Vandana Shiva and Pauline Effa. In a parallel session, "Work & Care: New pillars of work", with Jennifer Nedelsky, Paolo Foglizzo and Francesco Baroni.
On 21st November from 15.00 to 15.50: "We are all developing countries", with Kate Raworth and John Perkins.
The full programme is available on francescoeconomy.org.
ECONOMY OF FRANCESCO | NUMBERS
More than 3300 candidatures have been received for The Economy of Francesco by more than 2000 participants from 120 countries mostly from Italy, Brasil, the USA, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, France, Mexico, Germany and the United Kingdom. There are more than 120 countries to be connected for the event.
27 online preparatory conferences have taken place from May to October broadcast on Facebook and YouTube:
Participating countries – More than 40 including Italy, Argentina, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Korea, Portugal, Cameroon, Poland, Colombia, Nigeria, Brazil, Spain, Switzerland, India, Chile, Belgium, Ireland, South Africa, Botswana, Cuba, Mexico, the Philippines, Uganda and Pakistan - 45,569 views - 23,334 connected users - 7,713 hours of views.
Participants in The Economy of Francesco from 19 to 21 November:
Average age/gender/degree of education - The protagonists of the digital event are the 2000 under 35-ies from all over the world, 56% men and 44% women. They are economists, entrepreneurs, students, changemakers and social workers driven by the common goal of building a fairer and more sustainable world.
The conferences – Young economists and entrepreneurs registered for the event will be in dialogue with international speakers. The conferences will be available to everyone through the official website
Testimonies: 5, by young people connected from Mexico, Lebanon, Brazil, Uganda and Italy
Countries linked via Internet: 120
Live streaming - The whole event will be live streamed. It will be 4 hours a day and a 24-hour marathon on 20 November, thanks to the connections and contributions by young people logging in from 20 different countries.
The locations - The main venue will be the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi connected with 5 other significant places of the Saint's life: the Sanctuary of Rivotorto, the Church of San Damiano, the Basilica of Santa Chiara, the Sanctuary of the Stripping and Monte Frumentario Palace.
Squares in connection - Participants from different countries have set up HUBS, real structures to follow the event together where covid regulations allow for it. This makes it possible for other young people and entire communities to be involved in order to have a shared and in-depth experience even beyond the hours of the online programme. Until today, HUBS have been accredited from more than 25 countries, with 13 only in Italy: https://francescoeconomy.org/it/eof-hubs/.