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European SPES Institute

The European SPES Forum was established in by Luk Bouckaert and Laszlo Zsolnai 2004 In Leuven, Belgium. It was transformed into the European SPES Institute in 2014. See: http://eurospes.org/

The aim of the European SPES Institute is to make spirituality accessible as a public good to as many people as possible. Or, to phrase it differently: to open up spirituality as a vital source in social and economic life. This aim is expressed in the key word of SPES, being on the one hand an acronym for ‘SPirituality in Economic and Social life’ and, on the other hand, the Latin word for Hope, the virtue that sustains our belief in a better future. Spirituality is deliberately defined in broad and pluralistic terms so that the European SPES Institute brings together people from different spiritual backgrounds and traditions: Christians, Buddhists, spiritual freethinkers, Jews, Muslims. Our working definition is: Spirituality is the multiform search for a transcendent or deep meaning of life that connects people to each other and brings them in touch with God or ‘Ultimate Reality’. Within this definition there is room for differing views, for spiritualities with and without God and for an ethics of dialogue or ‘active pluralism’.

Spirituality and Business: The Story of European SPES Institute Institute

    A paper on “Spirituality and business: The story of European SPES Institute” by Laszlo Zsolnai was published in the Journal for the Study of Spirituality, in  September 2026. This paper reviews the past 20 years of activities of European SPES, an international collaborative network of scholars and practitioners located in Leuven, Belgium. European SPES is dedicated to promoting spirituality in economic and social life. It is the core belief of European SPES that spiritually motivated… Read More »Spirituality and Business: The Story of European SPES Institute Institute

    Spirituality and Business in the Anthropocene

      My book on “Spirituality and Business in the Anthropocene” has been published by Palgrave-Macmillan in London in 2025. This contributed volume collects innovative papers by scholars from Europe, India, and the USA to investigate how spirituality can contribute to renewing business in response to the challenges of the Anthropocene era. Using insights from Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Existential Humanism the book explores the materialist worldviews in the Anthropocene and their relation to crises. Further, it… Read More »Spirituality and Business in the Anthropocene

      European SPES 2024 Conference

        The 20th Anniversary Conference of European SPES entitled “Spirituality & Business in the Anthropocene Era” was held at the Corvinus University of Budapest in June 20-22, 2024 in Budapest Hungary. Co-organizing partners of the conference included 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,… Read More »European SPES 2024 Conference

        Webinar Series in Bombay, India

          From January 15 – February 5, 2021 Paul Shrivastava (Penn State University), Eleanor O’Higgins (University College Dublin), Peter Pruzan (Coepnhagen Business School) and Laszlo Zsolnai conducted a webinar series on Ethics, Sustainability and Spirituality at the S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research in Bombay, India. Webinar Series in Bombay, India

          The Routledge International Handbook of Spirituality in Society and the Professions

            Laszlo Zsolnai & Bernadette Flanagan (Eds.): The Routledge International Handbook of Spirituality in Society and the Professions. Routledge, London and New York, 2019. (This book may be available at https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-International-Handbook-of-Spirituality-i…) 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… Read More »The Routledge International Handbook of Spirituality in Society and the Professions

            Art, Spirituality and Economics – Liber Amicorum for Laszlo Zsolnai

              Luk Bouckaert, Knut J. Ims, and Peter Rona (Eds.): Art, Spirituality and Economics – Liber Amicorum for Laszlo Zsolnai. Springer, 2018. (This book may be available at Springer) 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… Read More »Art, Spirituality and Economics – Liber Amicorum for Laszlo Zsolnai

              Love in Business: Sentimentality or the Ultimate Virtue?

                Kenneth J. Barnes and Laszlo Zsolnai made a joint presentation on “Love in Business: Sentimentality or the Ultimate Virtue?” at the European SPES Annual Conference in May 24-26, 2018 in Leuven, Belgium. They argued that On the basis of calculative self-interest business cannot regain trust from the public and cannot get deep support from its stakeholders. For re-establishing trust and getting deep support business should show that it loves and serves its all stakeholders. Love… Read More »Love in Business: Sentimentality or the Ultimate Virtue?

                European SPES 2015-2017

                  The presentation summarizes the works and activities of the European SPES Institute in 2015-2017. It covers conferences, workshop and publications as well as future projects. European SPES 2015-2017

                  Integral Ecology and Sustainable Business

                    Ove Jakobsen & Laszlo Zsolnai (Eds.): Integral Ecology and Sustainable Business. Emerald, 2017. (This book may be available at Emerald) 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… Read More »Integral Ecology and Sustainable Business