• The European SPES Institute is an international network of individuals and organizations promoting spirituality in economic and social life. It is our belief at the European SPES Institute that spiritually motivated actors who define success in multidimensional and holistic terms may serve the common good of nature, future generations and society. The mission of the European SPES Institute is expressed in the key word of SPES, being on the one hand an acronym for ‘SPirituality in Economics and Society’ and, on the other hand, the Latin word for Hope, the virtue that sustains our belief in a better future.

  • The Business Ethics Center of Corvinus University of Budapest organizes the The 20th Anniversary Conference of the European SPES Institute entitled "Spirituality & Business in the Anthropocene Era” in Budapest in June 20-22, 2024. Co-organizing partners of the conference are the Free University of Amsterdam – Faculty of Religion and Theology; Neyenrode Business University; the UNESCO Chair towards a Culture of Economic Peace, Grenoble School of Management; ABBS School of Management, Bangalore; S.P. Jain Institute of  Management and Research, Mumbai; and the Macau Ricci Institute, University of St. Joseph, Macau.

  • Initiated by Luk Bouckaert (KU Leuven) and Knut Ims (NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen) the European SPES Institute organizes The Schweitzer Workshop in cooperation with ABC Climont in September 15-18, 2023 in Climont, France. The aim of the workshop is to recontextualize Albert Schweitzer’s eco-oriented ethics for our time - the Anthropocene. Albert Schweitzer formulated an experience-based foundation for ethics based on the principle Reverence For Life (Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben), and that he hereby contributed to a pioneering eco-ethics that should be brought up to date for our time. Schweitzer’s philosophy implies a new sense of authenticity no longer based on the modern ego-centric notion of autonomy but on the alter-centric notion of reverence for life. This foundational principle is conceived as an unconditional and inclusive respect for life in all its manifestations.

    See program of the workshop as enclosure.

  • Columbia University Spirituality, Mind, Body Institute, the European SPES Institute, Leuven, and the Business Ethics Center of Corvinus University of Budapest organize an international online conference on The Awakened Campus Global Initiative in November 29-30, 2022. 

    The aim of the conference is to create a collaborative global network of higher education institutions to integrate spirituality in their activities. The overall goal is to help the formation of spiritual awareness of students, faculty and university leaders through support of spirituality in the student faculty and student advisor relationship, campus culture, mission, shared relational values, residential programs, and range of pedagogy. The Awakened Campus Global Initiative Conference mainly but not exclusively focuses on teachers education, medical education, and business education. So we are looking for establishing partnership with teachers colleges, medical schools, and business schools as well as with alternative institutions of higher learning.

    Invited speakers from USA, Europe, and India will present their experience and best practices in integrating spirituality in higher education and help to co-create projects with participating institutions in curriculum, research, and extra-curriculum development areas, and facilitate the collaboration of faculty and university leaders to promote spiritual awareness in higher education and professional practices.

  • The University of Urbino “Carlo Bo” organizes the 2022 Annual European SPES Conference in May 19-21, 2022 in Urbino, Italy. The conference aims to contribute to the ecological transformation of humankind by exploring theoretical and practical models that integrate the sense of the place, ethics and spirituality in new ways of organizing of economic and social life.

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    Since its beginning, Edy Korthals Altes (1924)  was an active and enthusiastic friend of the SPES-forum and the European SPES Institute. He was the eldest active member of SPES. During the Annual SPES Conference in Ypres, Belgium (April 10-12, 2014) he presented a paper which is representative for his lifelong commitment A Culture of Peace: Common Ground for Joint Action ‘ (published in Business, Ethics and Peace, Emerald, 2015, pp. 75-86).  Until the end of his life he was a fighter for peace. He passed away on the Christian Day of Peace, December 25, 2021 at the age of  98.

    His life is a source of inspiration and hope for all of us. He started his career as a Dutch diplomat, with a degree in economics, who served as Deputy Permanent Representative at the EEC in Brussels, and as Ambassador in Warsaw, and finally Madrid. He resigned in 1986, in connection with his public stance on the arms race. Since then, he has been an outspoken proponent of global peace and security, inter-religious cooperation, and spiritual renewal as Vice Chairman of the Dutch chapter of the Pugwash Movement (1987-’95), Chairman of the Section International Affairs of the Netherlands Council of Churches (1990-’96), Co-president of the European Ecumenical Commission on Development, EECOD,1991-’93, and President of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (1994-’99).  He was a fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science and fellow of the European SPES Institute.  His publications include Heart and Soul for Europe: An Essay on Spiritual Renewal  (Van Gorcum Ltd, Assen,1999) and   Spiritual Awakening: The Hidden Key to Peace and Security, Just and Sustainable Economics, Peeters Publishers, Leuven (2008).

    Remember him as a man of Hope!

    Luk Bouckaert, January 2, 2022

  • Laszlo Zsolnai gave a lecture in the “Happiness Talk Series” of Rekhi Centre for The Science of Happiness at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur on October 30, 2021. He introduced the Western (Aristotelian) and the Eastern (Buddhist) conceptions of happiness and discussed the contemporary approaches to wellbeing. He argued that the purpose of the firm should be redefined. Instead of maximizing profit, firms should maximize the wellbeing of all the stakeholders. He presented cases of successful working models of wellbeing oriented organizations.

     

  •  The Princeton University Faith and Work Initiative, the European SPES Institute – Leuven, and the Business Ethics Center of Corvinus University of Budapest jointly organize a webinar series on Humanities for Business in 11–15 October 2021.

    The program presents the grand traditions of the Humanities as an untapped resource for business-world problems. In a time where the Humanities are viewed as in decline or in threat of collapse altogether, the webinars will enact and extend the best of the Humanities toward prevailing challenges within the complex realities of our current cultural moment. Topics include values, trust, responsibility, ethics, leadership, self-realization, spirituality, narrative, literature, music, and the arts in relation with and applied to current business challenges.

     

     

     

     

     

  • SPES Pre-Conference Online Workshop: Nurturing the Place and its Communities, May 20, 2021.

  • Under the leadership of Laszlo Zsolnai the Economy & Religion Program has been established at the Corvinus Institute for Advanced Studies, Corvinus University of Budapest in February 2021. The Economy & Religion Program aims to explore and study the multiple roles that religion/spirituality plays in the functioning of the economy. It focuses on the contemporary issues of capitalism in relation to ethics and morality, ecology and sustainability, and social inequality and cultural diversity. It fosters the spirit of open dialogue that seeks collaboration across disciplines, cultures, and faith traditions.

  • The Macau Ricci Institute at the University of Saint Joseph, Macau published The Macau Manifesto for The Economy of Francesco Conference in November 2020. It is a synthesis of thinking towards the New Economic Paradigm based on three underlying principles, namely subsidiary economics, wellbeing for all, and common good entrepreneurship.

  • In 2021 the Business Ethics Center will start a PhD Specialization in Business Ethics and Spirituality within the Doctoral School of Business and Management of the Corvinus University of Budapest. The PhD Specialization consists of two interrelated modules: Business Ethics & Ethical Business, and Religious Economic Thought & Spiritual Business Models.

  • The slides summarizes the main projects and publications of the European SPES Institute in 2015-2020.

  • The book “Choosing Hope. How to Spiritualize the Economy?” by Luk Bouckaert was published in Dutch. (Kies voor Hoop. Hoe spiritualiteit de economie kan veranderen. Garant, Antwerpen, 2017)

    In his book Luk Bouckaert argues that the current search for spirituality is an effort within secularized societies to reconnect with a metaphysic of hope. In periods of crisis and deep change, when there is no longer consensus about the goals and values of life, we need a deeper spiritual ground for hope. Rational theories of happiness – of which economics is part - do not suffice to overcome the disorder and lack of convergence in periods of deep change. This does not mean that we do not have wishes or goals nor that we do not have any interest in their realization. But the spiritual source of hope starts from something that is prior to our desires and goals and makes sense independently from their fulfilment. We may call this awareness of meaning prior to our wishes and desires the disclosure of Life as a meaningful Presence.  Life as it is intuitively experienced as a given, sense making Presence that always creates new opportunities and hope despite the many failures and disappointments.

  • Increasingly, it is being recognized that spirituality, defined here as "a multiform search for a transcendent meaning of life that connects them to all living beings and brings them in touch with God or ‘Ultimate Reality,’" is an aspect of almost every sphere and aspect of social life. It appears in humanity’s dealings with nature, home and community, healing, economics and business, knowledge, and education. The Routledge International Handbook of Spirituality in Society and the Professions is a stimulating collection that summarizes the most important issues, frameworks, discussions, and problems relating to spiritually inspired activities in different fields of social life. 

     

  • The Waterford Institute of Technology, Department of Applied Arts hosted the 2019 Annual European SPES Conference in May 16-18, 2019 in Waterford, Ireland. Collaborative partners were the European SPES Institute and the Spirituality Institute for Research and Education, Ireland. The topic of the conference was “Spirituality in Society and the Professions” which is related to the Routledge International Handbook of Spirituality in Society and the Professions edited by Laszlo Zsolnai and Bernadette Flanagan.

  • This volume celebrates the work of Laszlo Zsolnai in the field of the ethical and spiritual aspects of economic life, who has made significant contributions to the connection between ethics, spirituality, aesthetics and economic theory. The book offers a selection of essays concerned with the ethical, spiritual and aesthetic context within which economics as a social studies discipline should be situated in order to avoid the sort of dehumanizing consequences that theories based on utility maximization and rational choice necessarily entail.

  • This collection addresses the relationship between business, the natural environment, ethics, and spirituality. While traditional economic theory generally assumed firms maximize profits, it has long been acknowledged that other factors may be important to understanding firm activities. The role of ethics and spirituality in society is clearly significant, yet economists have traditionally had little to say on these topics and how they intersect with economic activity.

  • The book collects and analyzes 11 exemplary cases of progressive business. Progressive business is understood as ecologically sustainable, future respecting and pro-social enterprise. The collected cases aim to show the best to be expected from business in the 21st century. Authors include Eleanor O'Higgins, Laszlo Zsolnai, Antonio Tencati, Knut Ims, Nel Hofstra, Luit Kloosterman and Michael Müller-Camen.

     

     

     

  • Economics as a Moral Science has been published by Springer. The book is an attempt to reclaim economics as a moral science. It argues that ethics is a relevant aspect of all levels of economic activity, from individual and organizational to societal and global. Taking ethical considerations into account is needed in explaining and predicting the behavior of economic agents as well as in evaluating and designing economic policies and mechanisms. The book employs the personalist approach that sees human persons with free will and conscience as the basic agents of economic life and defines human flourishing as the final end of economic activities.

  • Carlos Hoevel and Laszlo Zsolnai edited a special issues on Spirituality in Business in Spanish for the journal „Revista Cultura & Económica” Vol 32, No. 88. The volume contains the following papers:

    The Mission and Activities of the European SPES Institute

    Luk Bouckaert (Leuven): Spiritual Discernment in Decision-Making

    Hendrik Opdebeeck (Antwerp): Rediscovering the Personalist Philosophy of  Jacques Maritain

    Laszlo Zsolnai (Budapest): Spiritually Driven Entrepreneurship

    Henri-Claude de Bettignies (INSEAD): Can We Develop the Responsible Leaders We Need?

    Mike Thompson (London and Shanghai): Managers’ Self-understanding of Wisdom

  • The book edited by Sharda Nandram and Puneet K. Bindlish is written in response to the call towards a better world by focusing on an integrative worldview, manifested in a new way of organizing ‘Integrative Self-Management’. This publication is intended to inspire the researchers and academics to creatively integrate their perspectives on issues and solutions at fundamental levels.

  • The book contains selected papers presented at the international conference coorganized by the European  SPES Institute and IFIM Business School in Bangalore, India on January 9-10, 2014. Addressing issues of human values, ethics, spirituality and leadership in business the authors of this volume create a dialogue and interchange between Indian and European cultural traditions. Topics include spiritual orientations to business in Hindu, Buddhist and Christian traditions; the effect of spirituality upon contemporary leadership theories; sustainable business models in India and Europe and a comparison between Indian and European philosophies of leadership.
     
  • Good business needs a peaceful and just world in which to operate and prosper. Likewise, peace thrives in a healthy economic environment. However, many companies - either directly or indirectly - are involved in the arms race and in a battle to exploit and control scarce resources. As a result of the ambiguous power of business, a timely reflection on its impact on war and peace is needed as well as a conscious pro-peace commitment. Business, Ethics and Peace gathers a selection of papers presented at the International SPES Conference Business for Peace, Strategies for Hope at Ypres, April 10 - 12, 2014.

  • This book discloses the spiritual dimension in business ethics and sustainability management. Spirituality is understood as a multiform search for meaning which connects people with all living beings and God or Ultimate Reality. In this sense, spirituality is a vital source in social and economic life. The volume examines the spiritual orientations to nature and business in different cultural traditions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sufism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism.

  • Participants of the 10th Anniversary Conference of the European SPES Forum in April 10-12, 2014 in Ieper, Flanders Fields, Belgium launched "The Ypres Manifesto on Business for Peace". It reads as follows: In commemoration of the Great War of 1914-1918, we gather together in Ypres, April 10 to 12, 2014, as an international group yearning for Peace and coming from more than ten different countries. In the war trenches of Ypres, thousands of young people lost their lives, their innocence and dreams.

  • The Palgrave Handbook of Spirituality and Business summarizes the most important issues, approaches and models in the field of spirituality in business, economics and society. It presents a comprehensive pluralistic view covering all the major religious and spiritual traditions. It is a response to three developments that challenge the business-as-usual mindset. Firstly, in response to a growing interest in spirituality applied to models of transformational leadership, in theories of social capital and in practices of values-driven management, it explores the emerging field of business spirituality—its main concepts, models and practices.