Folkemødet on Bornholm is a three-day Danish event with debates on current hot topics. This year Nordea put young people’s well-being and financial situation on the agenda.
Against a backdrop of sunshine, sailing boats, smiles and the splendid nature of Allinge, lively debates once again took place on the many stages of Folkemødet.
Representatives from Nordea’s Group Leadership Team, the Danish management team and Nordea’s experts took part in no less than 11 debates to give input, answer questions or bring new perspectives into the highly topical debates. The topics ranged widely from cash and digitalisation, financial crime to the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard (Solsikkesnoren), cyber security and well-being at the workplace.
“It’s important that Nordea takes part in the debates that are going on in Denmark right now and that we make our views known. As a bank and financial experts we have an important role to play in society and we can help make a difference. At the same time we play an important role as an employer – now and in future – so it makes good sense for us to be well represented at Folkemødet,” says Javier Lopez, head of the Danish communication team.
In addition to taking part in the many debates, we had this year arranged our own debate about the well-being of young people and their finances. The debate was based on a major survey where we in collaboration with Fremtidsfabrik followed 36 young people over six weeks to learn about their views on money, finances and the future.
On stage we told the audience that the young respondents in the survey did not view their future as bright and full of opportunities but rather as uncertain and full of problems. The survey also showed that young people are part of a culture striving for perfection, with clear ambitions of full financial control and a “no go” attitude to debt.
“Young people’s view on finances has really surprised me. I was particularly surprised that they focus so much on saving up to become financially independent. This is very exciting and a relevant learning that we must pay close attention to at Nordea,” says Mads Skovlund.
The young people asked some excellent questions and I was very impressed by their knowledge and drive. There’s hope for the future.
As part of the debate on young people’s well-being and finances, Nordea had invited two of the respondents from the survey on stage – 17 year-old Noah and Marika. Head of Personal Banking Mads Skovlund and Private Economist Ida Marie Moesby were ready to answer their sharp questions about finances and banks.
One of the questions from Noah and Marika was: “How can the bank help young people who don’t take the straight and narrow path through the educational system?” And another one was: “How can the bank and the many numbers become easier to understand?”
“It was a really good experience to take part in the debate. The young people asked some excellent questions and I was very impressed by their knowledge and drive. There’s hope for the future,” says Mads Skovlund with a smile and continues:
“We’ve gained new insight and learning which is incredibly important and makes it easier for us to understand young people and target our advisory services and products at them.”
Nordea did not only join many debates at Folkemødet. We also for the first time tried out a mini-debate format where we filmed two short debate videos with Nordea and various organisations that had views on our society and banks, and shared the videos on our social media. The videos lasted 30-40 seconds and were intended to create visibility for people who were not able to visit Folkemødet in person.
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