Just Money: Massive Open Online Course
Graphic from Just Money live session. Image by Kelvy Bird.
In cooperation with the Global Alliance for Banking on Values and the 2015 cohort of Mel King Community Fellows, CoLab launched its first free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC): Just Money: Banking as if Society Mattered. In this MOOC, which launched in April 2016, over 7,000 participants from 156 countries explored how “Just” banks use finance as a tool for positive social, environmental, and economic change. Just banks operate and innovate within the so-called “real economy”. The core mission of these banks is to use finance as a tool to build positive social, environmental, and economic change. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the demand has grown for banks and financial institutions that operate under this triple-bottom-line objective. However, this business model is being challenged by new entrants into the banking market, low interest rates, and new regulations designed to reign in larger banks.
This MOOC took a critical look at the core tenets of just banking, drawing on theory, real-world cases, and interviews with leaders in the field. It is designed so that participants from all backgrounds can participate and explore the subject. In addition to employing creative, accessible teaching tools, the MOOC also featured a unique mixture of online and offline learning, with participants given the opportunity meet in in-person hubs around the world and to connect to coaching circles to discuss the core questions raised in the course and support each other in connecting the content to their work and life.
The trailer for the course provides a brief overview.
Examples of materials created for the course:
Though the course has now closed, the intention is for this MOOC to run annually to continue facilitating knowledge sharing and network building within the just banking community and disseminating information about values-driven financial models to organizations, individuals, and communities around the world.
Contact:
Katrin Kaeufer