How we work

Our strategic approach

Global Citizenship Education (GCE) -To consistently shine a light on the structural inequalities in how the global economy operates and the root causes and consequences of these inequalities, we use GCE for economic and financial justice. Through participatory methodologies that link local to global issues, we aim to move people from a charity-based perspective on poverty and development to one framed by solidarity and justice.

Multiplier Strategy - To maximise our reach and impact, FJI works with a community of educators, scholars, and activists in NGOs, schools and universities, trade unions, and community groups across the GCE and related sectors in Ireland. We create space for peer learning and provide accompaniment and support as members build their confidence and expertise to incorporate an economic and financial justice focus into their work.

Bridging Networks - For 30 years, our organisation has worked to coordinate, build capacity and strengthen the networks we are part of. We have a well-established reputation for doing so with integrity. Our position within multiple overlapping networks remains one of our key strengths, and we will continue to make connections across different thematic and geographic areas. Acting as a bridge between international movements and campaigns and relevant scholars, activists and educators working in Ireland will remain an important part of our work.

Partnerships - We support organisations and institutions in embedding global citizenship education for economic and financial justice through capacity building, curriculum development, and the provision of educational materials and resources. Careful relationship building, while time-consuming and often under-resourced through projects, is essential for building the trust and shared understanding that are preconditions for this kind of work and the sustained, long-term impact it aspires to.

GCE for All - We aim to prioritise working with under-represented and marginalised groups who are feeling the harshest effects of the injustices in our economic and financial system. In the face of bad-faith actors sowing division and disinformation, economic and financial justice education plays a crucial role in building solidarity and community at the grassroots level. 

Power Analysis - With the growing emphasis on decolonial approaches to education and campaigning, part of our contribution is to assist groups in exploring the current [neocolonial] economic and financial systems and the actors, policies and institutions that must be challenged to decolonise the financial system and bring about transformative change. This includes facilitating access to approaches and methodologies for power analysis, strategic campaigning, and movement building. 

Cycles of Praxis and Organisational Learning - creating space for reflection on our work, lessons learned, and exploring ways of incorporating those lessons into updated educational approaches and methodologies is an essential part of how we work. This is in order to remain responsive to the evolving context and the needs of the communities we work with, and to continue to strengthen our Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) strategy in line with our overall organisational aims.

Creative practice - Activating new channels and exploring new methods for communicating on complex themes is important for breaking down the perceived very high barrier to entry for people to work on financial justice issues. We are building our network of community arts practitioners, supported to develop innovative approaches to education and to campaigning materials and methodologies, to maximise the impact of our work and reach broader audiences.

Amplify Demands - Working in solidarity with international networks keeps us connected to the demands and priorities of global south-led movements. Our communications strategy focuses on leveraging our position and platforms to amplify these demands and priorities, including by incorporating them into the formulation of our own justice-centred economic and financial policy positions. Conversely, highlighting the impact that policy and practice in Ireland have on countries in the Global South is at the core of our mission as a global justice organisation. 

Economic literacy - our Plain English Economics and popular education strategies are rooted in Freirean & feminist principles, using creative and participatory approaches to demystify and democratise economic knowledge through a systems-thinking and rootcause analysis approach.