Photo: Peter M. Mayr
Being Productive and Taking Action By the time you read this, the worst of Covid may hopefully be behind us. But even if the Covid-19 pandemic is soon to turn into a less-threatening endemic, for many it will not be over yet. “It’s not over ‘til it’s over” does not apply here. The pandemic and the measures taken to contain it, as necessary as they have been, have left their mark. They have threatened livelihoods, had an acute and long-term impact on our physical and mental health, polarised public debate, diminished educational opportunities, and they will keep us all busy for a long time to come as we repay the debts we have incurred. Governments are still in a state of emergency, in a sense. The global economy, too, must reorganise its structures. We are facing supply chain problems, cross-sector staff shortages, skyrocketing energy prices and soaring inflation resulting from all this. Geopolitics is bringing out the big guns not only in Ukraine and is thus once again taking up a clear position in Europe. The pandemic has held a magnifying glass to what happens to societies that are abruptly sha ken by major crises. As thrilled as we were in early 2021 about the record development of effective vaccines, we were just as disillusioned at the end of the year when we realised that a small but vocal part of the population in many countries did not share the scientific view that vaccines offer a way out of the pandemic. Fear and confidence were 6
fiercely pitted against each other. As if all that were not enough, major weather-related disasters in 2021 reminded us once again of the urgency of tackling the climate crisis. In recent years, we have seen shifts in fundamental social, technological, political and ecological parameters and so much of what we took for granted – trust in science, in peace in Europe, in a secure future – has been lost. The magnitude of the task, the force of this transformation, calls for radical approaches. But this is precisely where ERSTE Foundation’s purpose comes into play. Through our networks we have already succeeded in finding the right answers to topical issues on previous occasions. And so, from our point of view, 2021 was one of the most productive years in a long time. To boost science, we have stepped up investment in research. For instance, we aim to broaden the foundation’s core competence with regard to “Financial Health for All”. We are collaborating with the University of Tartu (Estonia) to conduct a major three-year study on financial well-being in Central and Eastern Europe. Fifteen years ago we founded Zweite Sparkasse (see p. 52), a bank for people in difficult financial situations, and five years ago we opened the Erste Financial Life Park, FLiP, (see p. 38) to address the lack of knowledge
