Managing Money: Development of financial capability in adult education using technology Erasmus Project

Project Title

Managing Money: Development of financial capability in adult education using technology

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for adult education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2015

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; ICT – new technologies – digital competences; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation

Project Summary

Managing Money was initiated as a result of consultation with members of the EAEA. The consultation demonstrated the need for wider access to and engagement with financial literacy programmes, especially those currently under-represented in adult education. Consultation confirmed that there was a need for a pan European financial literacy curriculum for adults, to inform development of financial literacy programmes which can be delivered by organisations supporting those most at risk from financial difficulties and which can sustain support for adult learners beyond a funded project lifetime.

The project set out to support the use of technology to develop the financial capability of adult learners, including adults with low participation in adult learning.

The project partnership consisted of 7 participating organisations from 6 European countries, bringing together different perspectives and views on financial literacy and technology for learning.

• National Learning and Work Institute (L&W) was the coordinating organisation based in the UK.
• CVO Antwerpen is an adult education centre with several campuses in and around the city of Antwerp, Belgium.
• Ljudska univerza Velenje Ljudska univerza Velenje is public non-profit institution providing adult education throughout Slovenia.
• Modern English Digital Limited is an SME which specialises in social technology.
• Stichting ROC West-Brabant is a regional centre of 8 colleges of vocational education and training and 10 Schools of pre-vocational education in the South of the Netherlands.
• Skills Norway is the Directorate for Lifelong Learning and belongs to the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research. Skills Norway was known as Vox until 31.12.2016.
• ESCP Europe Wirtschaftshochschule Berlin e.V. is part of ESCP Europe: a transnational school of higher education with campuses in Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, and Spain.

The partnership also benefited from the formal involvement of The Swiss Federation for Adult Learning, (SVEB) who participated in the project as a self-financing associated partner.

The project has developed:
A common financial literacy curriculum for adults of all ages,
Training resources for teachers, trainers and tutors and resources for learners,
An interactive Managing Money App available for free download from the web, Apple and Google stores.
Trial Report for the pilot trials carried out with tutors and learners of the Curriculum, Resources and Managing Money App.
A guide for the use of the Curriculum, Resources and App
All of which is hosted on a Managing Money Website ( http://managing-money.eu/ )

All of the outcomes from the project were developed to support educationalists, providers and tutors in the development and delivery of Managing Money. This was promoted through partner training events, webinars, workshops and keynotes at relevant events, through EU networks, partner networks and memberships. Training workshops in partner countries supported non – partner organisations to deliver the curriculum in their own organisations.

All intellectual outputs (including source code of the Managing Money App) have been published under Creative Commons License CC-BY in digital format for use, download and re-purpose.

Managing Money has impacted positively on both the partner organisations and on European education in various ways. All project partner organisations have planned to support and sustain Managing Money in their own organisations and to build on the involvement and interest of experts and interviewees engaged in the initial research. Managing Money has also attracted interest from the wider educational community. For example, Managing Money was nominated for the Netherlands International Prize for the most promising, interesting and valuable project in adult education. Managing Money was included in the shortlist of five international projects that were nominated and although did not ultimately win, dramatically increased the exposure of Managing Money at a national level.

Although Managing Money has been developed to have a long term impact on the ability of educational providers across Europe to support their learners to acquire techniques and digital skills and to develop their financial capabilities, there is still a long way to go to implement a financial literacy strategy in many European organisations. Integrating Managing Money products in delivery is often linked to a cultural change, so must be promoted and disseminated by project partners beyond the project lifetime to ensure sustainable adoption and supported at national and regional levels to encourage that integration. Therefore, there is also a role for policy makers to continue to promote financial education for adults and specifically to encourage use of the Managing Money curriculum when planning financial literacy programmes.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 324929,08 Eur

Project Coordinator

NATIONAL LEARNING AND WORK INSTITUTE & Country: UK

Project Partners

• Stichting ROC West-Brabant
• CVO Antwerpen
• modern english digital limited
• KOMPETANSE NORGE
• Andragoski zavod Ljudska univerza Velenje
• ESCP EUROPE WIRTSCHAFTSHOCHSCHULE BERLIN EV