Financial Justice Ireland

BACKGROUND

FJI was established under the name Debt and Development Coalition Ireland in 1993 by a number of development, faith-based, and solidarity groups in Ireland who were concerned about the devastating effects of debt on Southern countries. . We are the only organisation in Ireland providing global citizenship education with a focus on the financial system and financial justice.

CURRENT PROJECTS

We believe that in order to bring about a world free from poverty and inequality we first need a just and sustainable financial system. To achieve, and sustain, such a system will require the action of informed citizens and governments. We provide critical education to build engagement and understanding in Ireland. We engage with the adult and community sector to help interested adults build their knowledge of financial issues by providing high quality accessible one-off seminars and courses, as well as informal events like film and book clubs.

In the formal education sector, we try to support the incorporation of critical financial education at second and third level. We engage at third level through existing student groups and also providing guest lectures as part of formal course content. We provide training to trainee teachers, CPD to existing teachers, and produce educational resources for teachers including Leaving Cert Politics and Society and Geography, Junior Cert Business and Maths, and our popular Transition Year resource How the World Works.

Econowha? is an online tool for critical literacy for use in adult learning settings. It is designed to support us in questioning why things are the way they are, and exploring what we can do to act for a more just global society.

Through Econowha? we hope to uncover different perspectives on the causes and consequences of the global financial crisis, and to think about economics in a way that puts justice for people and the planet first. We also run a six-week Econowha? course.

Our latest resource, From Grassroots to Government: Embedding Financial Justice in the Leaving Certificate Politics and Society Curriculum supports teachers in exploring the Globalisation and Sustainable Development strands of the curriculum with their students. It takes a development education approach and uses active learning methodologies.

The resource encourages students to:

• Examine the positive and negative aspects of globalisation
• Analyse the global financial system and power of the supranational bodies
• Bring about change through their citizenship project


Not Business as Usual is designed to support Junior Cycle Business Studies teachers in exploring global justice topics using active learning methodologies. It provides clear guidance on how to incorporate financial justice themes into all three strands of the curriculum - Personal Finance, Enterprise and Our Economy.