Being Productive and Taking Action

Photo: Peter M. Mayr

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 shaken 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 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

on money matters among young people. Both projects have been very well received, prompting changes in society. The EU Commission has even taken up the idea of Zweite as a role model to introduce a legal provision giving every citizen access to a bank account.

Why do we focus so much on financial education? Because everyone’s financial health is crucial to being able to cope well with coming crises. The Foundation for Economic Literacy, which we co-founded, took up its work last year. It will bring economic and financial education to schools. Even the ministry of finance has started to embrace financial literacy in Austria, which shows that our previous measures to raise awareness have not been in vain.

To better understand the current geopolitical shifts, the Europe’s Futures Fellowship, a collaboration with the Institute for Human Sciences, brings together the best minds to reflect on how a sovereign European Union can hold its own today and contribute to dialogue between East and West and the positive development of the Central and Eastern European regions.

Our own lab, TWO NEXT, which develops digital innovation skills for pressing social issues, worked on two topics in 2021 that have become even more important in post-pandemic times: supporting family care-givers and financial inclusion.

We urgently need to build regenerative economic and social models that will also enable future generations to lead a (better) life in harmony with nature. Foundations in particular can afford the courage to take risks and look far ahead; they can be innovative, react flexibly and choose their tasks according to the urgency of the problems to be tackled. It’s imperative that we all pull together and forge new alliances. To this end, we spent three days mulling over the next steps with regard to the climate crisis, democracy development, society and philanthropy at the largest meeting of European foundations in Vienna in October 2021. The energy, the will to act and the opportunities to do so were palpable.

New managing board

2021 was just as important for ERSTE Foundation’s programme and activities as it was for its governance. In the second half of the year, we extended and strengthened our managing board. Mario Catasta, whom I would like to thank most sincerely for everything he has done for Erste Group and ERSTE Foundation, and Franz Portisch, who has accompanied ERSTE Foundation’s development in various positions from the outset, moved from the foundation’s managing board to its supervisory board. The supervisory board appointed the previous deputy chairman, Boris Marte, as the new CEO. He is assisted by Eva Höltl, who has been a board member since 2020, Wolfgang Schopf, who has taken on the role of chief financial officer (CFO), and Martin Wohlmuth, executive director and head of finance and organisation since 2016 who completes the new four-member team. Under his leadership as COO on ERSTE Foundation’s managing board, the foundation will continue its tasks as the coordinator of the core shareholder syndicate.

All the same, I would like to explicitly thank all the staff members for their work in what has once again been a challenging year and hope we will all stay healthy and be able to respond vigorously and successfully to the challenges ahead.

Andreas Treichl

Chairman

Supervisory Board Members

Andreas Treichl (Chairman) Bettina Breiteneder Mario Catasta Maximilian Hardegg Barbara Pichler Franz Portisch Johanna Rachinger Philipp Thurn und Taxis Markus Trauttmansdorff Manfred Wimmer Kurt Zangerle