There’s something quietly powerful about seeing a group of women gathered around a table in the late afternoon, talking about budgets, savings, and digital tools to manage their money. Not because money isn’t part of their lives — it always has been — but because financial education is often wrapped in jargon and dense graphs, making it feel distant and unwelcoming.
The workshop organised in Arezzo by OpenCom, with trainer Erina Guraziu and event coordinator Silvana Bermudez — both part of the organisation’s team — turned that image upside down. It showed how discussing money can be simple, practical, and even liberating.Erina led the session with energy and warmth, encouraging participants to reflect on their financial habits and discover new ways to handle everyday money matters. Household budgets, online banking, insurance, and small investments — topics often seen as distant or overly technical became relatable, understandable, and part of everyday life. Silvana created a welcoming, collaborative space where people spoke openly and without fear of being judged.
The seminar is part of the Gender Balance in Financial Education (GBFE) project, promoted by Fondazione Arezzo Innovazione and funded by the Erasmus+ programme. It stems from a simple yet often overlooked fact: across Europe, women still have less access to financial knowledge and are less involved in household financial decision-making. As a result, many women are more vulnerable to economic difficulties, especially during times of transition or personal crisis.
To change this, GBFE brings together an international partnership: Fondazione Arezzo Innovazione (Italy – lead partner), OpenCom (Italy), Markeut Skills (Spain), ARISE – Austrian Centre for Inclusion Research and Sustainable Development (Austria), and Euro Education Bulgaria (Bulgaria). Together, they aim to make financial education inclusive, practical, and truly accessible to all women.
Alongside in-person workshops, such as the one in Arezzo, the project has also created a free online course, available at https://lms.gbfeproject.eu/. It includes five short video modules on how to manage a household budget, plan savings, understand insurance, or choose investments — with clear examples and straightforward language, free from technical jargon.
“Financial education is not a luxury, it’s a right,” Erina reminded the group as she handed out their certificates. This project aims to empower every woman, turning knowledge into freedom and awareness into strength.
And perhaps that was the strongest message to emerge from the afternoon: learning to manage your money doesn’t mean becoming a finance expert — it means taking care of yourself, your choices, and your future.