28 Jun 2024
Over the three days, the discussion delved into the various facets of how inclusive finance has transitioned to new contexts and challenges.
The 8th European Research Conference on Microfinance with the theme "Microfinance and Transition: Exploring Pathways for Economic, Social, and Environmental Transformations” took place 24th-26th June 2024 at the University of Bergamo, Italy. The conference was organised by the University of Bergamo in cooperation with CERMi and e-MFP.
Over the three days of the conference, researchers, students and professionals from all over the world came together to share and discuss about the latest advances in microfinance and financial inclusion. These discussions delved into the various facets of how inclusive finance has transitioned to new contexts and challenges: encompassing emerging governance issues, the importance of financial, social and environmental sustainability, understanding who are now the financially excluded, the technological transformation in microfinance, innovative regulation approaches, and more. The conference offered a rich and varied panorama, with a particular objective: to intersect theoretical and applied research approaches.
Delegates to the conference were welcomed by Sergio Cavalieri, Rector of the University of Bergamo; Laura Viganò, Director, CESC, University of Bergamo and e-MFP's Executive Secretary, Christoph Pausch. Following this, Claudio González-Vega, Professor Emeritus, Ohio State University (USA) gave a keynote speech entitled ‘‘Whether finance…? Lessons from a journey along its borders’, which was then discussed by Marc Labie, University of Mons and Annette Krauss, University of Zurich.
During the first day, there was also a plenary dedicated to the Best Graduate Research Paper Award, where the two winners were announced by e-MFP’s Joana Afonso and had the opportunity to discuss their papers with Roy Mersland, University of Agder and Alfredo Burlando, University of Oregon.
The conference programme included also several parallel sessions throughout the 3 days, and three plenaries touching diverse topics. During the second day, Craig Churchill, Chief, Social Finance Programme, ILO presented on ‘Inclusive Finance for Social Transformation’ in a plenary session with contributions from Phillippe Guichandut, Grameen Crédit Agricole, and Aakanksha Gaur, SDA Bocconi School of Management. And in the afternoon, Olga Biosca, Glasgow Caledonian University, moderated a panel on 'Research-Based Practice in Financial Inclusion' with Mathilde Bawin, ADA; Aldo Moauro, Microfinanza Rating (MFR); Aurélie Larquemin, University of Bath, who presented the work of e-MFP ‘From Research to Practice’ Action Group on financial health; and Sam Mendelson, e-MFP who summarised the results of the Financial Inclusion Compass Survey 2024.The busy day rounded off with a social dinner in the captivating old town of Bergamo.
On the closing day, the final plenary: ‘Enhancing Oversight through Suptech Applications’ featured Simone Di Castri and Kalliopi Letsiou from the Cambridge SupTech Lab, University of Cambridge, and Max Niño – Zarazua, Independent Consultant with the discussion being moderated by Manuela Geranio, University of Bergamo.The 8th European Research Conference on Microfinance concluded with a farewell message from Laura Viganò who thanked the delegates, the conference sponsors and supporters, and all those involved in making the conference happen.
