The Economy of Francesco 2022 event is here! It happens after three years of life, work, waiting, projects, proposals, desire; after two years of a pandemic that could have stopped our young changemakers but didn’t succeed. After the great pain that the world has had to face. Young people are eager to change the flow: next week from 22nd to 24th September young people from all over the world will be in Assisi, Italy to celebrate and spread The Economy of Francesco (EoF)! Young people from all walks of life, young economists, entrepreneurs and changemakers from around the world have been at work in the last three years for an “economy with a soul”. They will meet to offer alternative economic models that give life rather than kill!
20 young African changemakers from the various corners of Africa will participate in this year’s Assisi event under the aegis of the Jesuit Justice and Ecology Network – Africa (JENA), a network of the social and ecology ministries of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar (JCAM). The young Africans who bring to the global forum solutions for a more just global economy and for more inclusive, resilient and sustainable local economies in Africa.
The Economy of Francesco they is putting in practice Pope Francis’ calls in “Laudato Si” and “Fratelli Tutti” for economies that give life rather than kill. It inspires young people to have the courage to touch and to embrace simplicity in the manner of St Francis of Assisi and to call the world away from excessive consumerism and greed and to know the limits of growth, production and consumption. Less is more!
The Economy of Francesco is a community of young leaders that through exchange and collaboration is developing sustainable and concrete solutions to the economic, social and environmental problems of our time. The 2022 EoF program convention offers the opportunity for young people to reflect on and champion sustainability and principals for an inclusive, resilient and sustainable economy and to engage in dialogue among themselves and with business, economic and development experts from across the world.
The 2022 Assisi global event has been called by Pope Francis and organized under the auspices of the Catholic Diocese of Assisi, the Seraphic Institute of Assisi, Economy of Communion, in collaboration with the Municipality of Assisi and the Dicastery for promoting Integral Human Development. The event, which will be held under the theme “the encounter, the harvest, the ideas and the pact” represents the first in-person meeting for young people. The meeting will see young scholars, entrepreneurs, and change makers, from more than 100 countries around the world, who have a desire to contribute to a new season of economic thought and practice. The Economy of Francesco also brings young people to a conversation with decision makers, workers and citizens of the world with the objective to convey joy, share experiences, the hopes and challenges that they have gained and gathered up in the last three years as they listened to one another and to their hearts. The EoF is convinced that a better world cannot be built without a better economy and that the economy is so important for the lives of peoples and the poor that we all need to be concerned with it.
Since 2020, the Economy of Francesco has been organising global events, albeit online, to tackle most of the pressing global topical issues. The EoF in Africa organised an in-person event in Nairobi in 2021 that brought together young people energised to work and advocate for a more just and healthier world. These events have been both in form of conference and Round Table discussions tackling issues ranging from human rights, education for a new economy, business and lifestyles, finance and humanity, socio-ecological responsibility that redefines new approach to climate change and poverty, state of food security; work-health ethics, human development, and business models for a human economy among others.
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