Conferences
-
The European SPES Forum co-organized an international conference entitled “Ethical Leadership: The Indian Way” hosted by IFIM Business School in Bangalore, India on January 9-10, 2014. Organizing partners included the V.B. Padode Centre for Sustainability of IFIM Business School. The conference got together educationists, professionals from different areas in the industry to address issues of human values, ethics and spirituality in doing business in the Indian context. -
The Buddhist Economics Research Platform, the Loden Foundation, Bhutan and the Hungarian Bhutan Friendship Society in partnership with the European SPES Forum and the European Buddhist Union organized an international workshop 'Buddhist Values in Business and its Potential for Europe' on 24-25 November 2012, in Brussels, Belgium. Partly inspired by Bhutan's Gross National Happiness, the workshop was designed for people from the business or academic sectors interested or involved in Buddhist Business/Economics as well as for entrepreneurs, university students and leaders of Buddhist organizations.
-
The Business Ethics Center of the Corvinus University of Budapest and the ERENET - Entrepreneurship Research and Education Network of Central European Universities organized the 2012 Annual Conference of the European SPES Forum in September 21-23, 2012 in Visegrad, Hungary. The aim of the conference was disclosing the spiritual dimension in business ethics and sustainability management.
-
Together with the Center for Ethics of the University of Antwerp, the Business Ethics Center of Corvinus University of Budapest co-organized of the Annual Conference of the European SPES Forum entitled Responsibility in Economics —The Legacy of E.F. Schumacher from 22-23 September, 2011 in Antwerp, Belgium. A Charter of Human Responsibilities was launched by the Charles Leopold Mayer Foundation as a tool for dialogue. -
Sixth Annual Conference of the European SPES Forum entitled “Leading with Wisdom” was hosted by the Alba University, in April 21-23, 2010 in Veldhoven, The Netherlands. The conference explored the meaning and practice of wisdom as the basis of trustful and effective leadership.
-
An International Symposium on Social Responsibility, Entrepreneurship and the Common Good was held at ESC Rennes School of Business on January 7-8, 2010, in cooperation with the European SPES Forum and the European Business Ethics Network, and with the support of CANON Research Centre France. The aim of the conference is to explore how corporate social responsibility and entrepreneurship can contribute to the common good and provide answers to the challenges posed by the current economic crisis. -
Fifth Annual Conference of the European SPES Forum entitled « Respect and Economic Democracy » was hosted by the University of Catania in April 17-18, 2009 in Catania, Italy. The conference has the purpose to explore a common sense of respect, which can improve the dialogue between people and to act as a guarantor of an ethically balanced resources allocation. At the same time, the conference directs the attention of academics and practitioners to the gap between stakeholders and individuals and the lack or inefficiency of democratic mechanism in business governance. -
The Chine-Europe International Business School (CEIBS) together with the European SPES Froum organized an international workshop on Leadership, Spirituality and the Common Good: East and West Approaches in October 15-16, 2008 in Shanghai, China. Designed for academics and practitioners, the conference explored the relationship between spiritual sources and the common good as defined by Eastern and Western societies.
-
The Norwegian School of Economics and the European SPES Forum organized a workshop on European Literature and the Ethics of Leadership in May 2–4, 2008 in Bergen, Norway. The aim of the workshop was to explore European literature for leadership ethics. Papers were invited to focus on the myths and stories of European literature: Odyssey, Orpheus, Antigone, The Holy Grail, Hamlet, Don Quichote, Robinson Crusoe, Faust, Peer Gynt, etc. and link them to contemporary issues of leadership.
-
On September 21-22, 2007, the European SPES Forum organized its 4th Annual Conference in Leuven (Belgium) which was preceeded by the Annual Conference of the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN), both hosted by the Centre for Economics and Ethics of the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, celebrating its 20th anniversary. -
INSEAD organized an international workshop jointly with the European SPES Forum, focusing on the research project “Globalization and the Common Good” in September 17-18, 2006, in Fontainebleau, France. This workshop was hosted by Henri-Claude de Bettignies, the Aviva Chair Professor of Leadership and Responsibility at INSEAD. -
Jointly with the European SPES Forum, the Business Ethics Center of Corvinus University of Budapest conducted the “Europe-Asia Dialogue on Business, Ethics and Spirituality” international conference from June 30-July 2, 2006, in Budapest. Nearly 50 scholars and practitioners participated in the conference representing Austria, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, India, Indonesia, Norway, Sweden, the UK and the USA. The conference was place for dialogue on European and Asian business in spiritual viewpoints.
-
The University Antwerp organized an international workshop jointly with the European SPES Forum focusing on the research project “Spirituality and the Economics of Frugality” in April 20-21, 2006 in Antwerp, Belgium. The workshop focused on the spiritual concept of frugality and its economic applicability in present day context. The intention was to create an overview of the different spiritual approaches to frugality in Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Philosophical traditions. The general assumption is that, although frugality is contrary to consumerism and excessive economic growth, it is not contrary to rationality. -
The second meeting of the European SPES Forum was held in 21-22 October, 2005 in Leuven, Belgium. The theme of the meeting was « Spirituality in the Context of Globalisation » Participants discussed the role of spirituality in the process of socio-economic globalisation. Is it a motivational factor of resistance to globalism, as seems to be the case in the anti or alternative globalist movements? Or does spirituality, as a desire for universal brotherhood, sustain the drive towards cosmopolitism, universal values, open communication and market systems?
-
The Founding Meeting of the European SPES Forum was held in October 22-23, 2004 in Leuven, Belgium. The aim of the meeting was to reflect on the meaning of spirituality as a public affair and to establsih a European network for Spirituality in Economic and Social life, called the European SPES Forum (SPES is an acronym for SPirituality in Economy and Society). The program of the founding meeting included the following presentations: « Spirituality as a public affair » (Luk Bouckaert, Leuven). « Spirituality and ethics » (Laszlo Zsolnai, Budapest).