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’.
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
A comprehensive summary of the projects and publication of the European SPES Institute in 2015-2020 can be found here. Newsletters of the European SPES Institute
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
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
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?
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
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
The Center for Ecological Economics and Ethics of the Bodo Graduate School of Business, University of Nordland organizes the 2016 Annual European SPES Conference in May 27-29, 2016, in Bodo, Norway. The topic of the conference is „Integral Ecology, Earth Spirituality and Economics”. Pope Francis’ encyclical letter Laudato si’ (Praised Be: On the Care of Our Common Home) is an excellent opportunity for building a conversation between science and spirituality on ecology and sustainable development. Integral Ecology proposed by… Read More »Integral Ecology, Earth Spirituality, and Economics
The European SPES Institute organized its annual conference in 3-5 July 2015 in Breukelen, The Netherlands. The title of the conference is “Management in the VUCA World: The Role of Spirituality“. The conference discussed the concept of spirituality and how spirituality helps managers to navigate the VUCA World of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. Spirituality in the VUCA World
Laszlo Zsolnai (Ed.): The Spiritual Dimension of Business Ethics and Sustainability Management. Springer, 2015. (This book may be available at Springer) 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… Read More »The Spiritual Dimension of Business Ethics and Sustainability Management