European Forum Alpbach 2026 hosts inaugural meeting of the European Alliance of Financial Education Practitioners (FIN.e)
- Advisory Board adopts Statement to strengthen access to quality financial education across Europe
- First ten member organisations — out of 27 in total — bring practitioner expertise to the European financial education agenda
- The Alliance aims to reach 4,000 financial education practitioners by 2028
- Implementation partners: ActionAid Hellas, Aflatoun International and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Institute; the Alpbach Lab was facilitated by FIN.e and Three Coins, with funding from ERSTE Foundation
FIN.e is a three-year initiative launched in September 2025 and formally inaugurated in Athens in December 2025. It connects financial education policy with the experience of organisations that design and deliver programmes across the European Union. FIN.e is implemented by ActionAid Hellas, Aflatoun International and the EIB Institute, with financial support from the EIB Institute. The Alpbach Lab was facilitated by FIN.e and Three Coins and funded by ERSTE Foundation.
FIN.e’s Advisory Board includes, among others, Maria Luís Albuquerque, European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union; Wim Mijs, CEO of the European Banking Federation; Roeland Monasch, CEO of Aflatoun International; Kyriakos Pierrakakis, President of the Eurogroup and Greece’s Minister of National Economy and Finance; Eva Polyzogopoulou, Managing Director of ActionAid Hellas; Marko Primorac, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank; and Andreas Treichl, CEO of ERSTE Foundation.
FIN.e sets out to bridge the gap between the many financial education initiatives being implemented by organisations across Europe and policymaking at the highest decision-making level, in recognition of the crucial role financial education plays in the resilience of the European economy and in social cohesion across the EU.
According to the European Commission’s latest study, only 18% of people in the EU — and 16% in Greece — have a high level of financial literacy. At the same time, Europeans are being called upon to make increasingly complex decisions about savings, investments, retirement and digital financial services, as the EU seeks to mobilise greater private investment through the Savings and Investments Union.
FIN.e brings together practitioners, partners and strategic stakeholders to explore the future of financial education in Europe and to identify the priorities, opportunities and areas of collaboration that will guide the Alliance’s next phase. Its ultimate goal is to help build a generation of Europeans equipped with the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to navigate economic complexity and build a resilient, prosperous future.
The three-day FIN.e meeting, held from 28 to 30 August at the European Forum Alpbach 2026, marked the Alliance’s first strategic gathering and the first opportunity for its 12 Advisory Board members to meet the first 10 member organisations. The organisations came from Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.
As part of the FIN.e Lab at the European Forum Alpbach 2026, FIN.e’s Advisory Board adopted the Alpbach Statement on Financial Education. It calls for a stronger link between policy and practice and sets out four priorities: bringing practitioners’ experience and evidence into policy discussions; sharing high-quality approaches and educational tools across countries; strengthening cooperation and capacity-building among practitioners; and expanding access to quality financial education, particularly for underserved groups.
“This couldn’t have come at a better time. Financial education is not only about understanding financial products. It is about equipping citizens with the confidence and skills to navigate an increasingly complex economic environment,” said EIB Vice-President Marko Primorac. “As Europe works to strengthen its Savings and Investments Union and economic resilience, financial capability becomes more important than ever. FIN.e gives a stronger voice to the practitioners working directly with learners and communities across Europe.”
“Europe isn’t short on financial education initiatives — what’s missing is the connection between them. We need to stop working in isolation and start collaborating across borders, with a cross-sectoral approach,” said Eva Polyzogopoulou, Managing Director of ActionAid Hellas, adding: “Today, perhaps more than ever, the critical importance of financial education for citizens’ wellbeing — and indeed for the resilience and social cohesion of the European Union itself — is becoming clear. Extremely low levels of financial literacy are a common phenomenon across most countries, and this should be a wake-up call about what it means for Europe’s future. Greater involvement of practitioners on the ground in shaping policy is needed, along with a unified European framework and sustainable, long-term funding for initiatives and actions.”
Roeland Monasch, CEO of Aflatoun International and FIN.e Advisory Board Member, said: “Financial education works best when policy is built on practitioner experience, not the other way around. FIN.e gives Europe the structure to make that connection, and Aflatoun is glad to help build it.”
Read Aflatoun International’s blog about the FIN.e Lab at European Forum Alpbach 2026.
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About the FIN.e partnership
FIN.e is implemented by ActionAid Hellas, Aflatoun International and the EIB Institute, with financial support from the EIB Institute. The Alpbach Lab was facilitated by FIN.e and Three Coins and funded by ERSTE Foundation.
About ActionAid Hellas
ActionAid Hellas is an independent, international organisation founded in 1972 and operating in Greece since 1998. With a presence in more than 75 countries, it works to educate people and communities so they can rely on their own strengths and claim a life of dignity in a fairer world for all. In Greece, through its Child Sponsorship Programme, it has supported more than 130,000 children across 89 communities and 21 countries worldwide. It has also been designing and delivering educational programmes since 2000, including financial education programmes in Greece and Cyprus since 2019, reaching 250,000 students, while since 2017 it has supported more than 11,000 people through its Community Centre in Athens, which assists people experiencing poverty and social exclusion. Likewise, since 2020 the ActionAid Youth Center in Thessaloniki has empowered more than 2,600 young people through programmes and services that help them become active citizens and enter the labour market. More information about ActionAid and its work in Greece and around the world is available at: www.actionaid.gr
About Aflatoun International
Aflatoun International is a global non-profit organisation headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Nairobi, Kenya. For nearly 20 years, Aflatoun has been pioneering social and financial education for children and young people, combining social and emotional learning, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy to help young people become active global citizens. Through a network of over 400 partner organisations in more than 110 countries, including nearly 30 across Europe and Central Asia, Aflatoun has reached over 100 million children and young people since its founding in 2005.
More information about Aflatoun and its work in Europe and around the world is available at: www.aflatoun.org
About the European Investment Bank Institute
The EIB Institute supports social, educational and research initiatives that advance European public-interest objectives. It provides financial support to FIN.e and is one of its three implementation partners.
For further information, please contact:
Magdalena, Head of Communications, Aflatoun International
email: [email protected], +31 657170644