News From the European Union
Entirely submitted by Daniel Schaubacher
Interested in value-based, meaningful work ?
The Brussels-EU Chapter of the European Bahá’í Business Forum cordially invites you to its Business Luncheon
Guest Speaker : Judi Neal, Founder and Executive Director of the Association Spirit at Work www.spiritatwork.org <http://www.spiritatwork.org/>
Entrance free !
Friday, February 16, 2007 12 noon
at Restaurant Tribeca, 1st Floor, 412 avenue Louise, Brussels
Parking on avenue Louise or adjacent streets or Inno Parking Bascule / Streetcar 93/94 to L’Abbaye Set lunch from € 12
Followed by a Book Presentation of Judy Neal’s latest book Edgewalkers – People and Organisations that Take Risks, Create the Future, and Thrive on the Edge (Prager 2006) at 18:00 hours at Nicola’s Bookshop, 106, rue de Stassart, off Place Stephanie, Brussels – the English language bookshop specialising in world and personal development literature
Judi Neal holds a Ph. D. in Organisational Behaviour from Yale University. After working for industry, she has been active as a consultant for 24 years, and spoken to organisations such as the UN, Rutgers University, the International Organisational Development Association, and EBBF. She is Professor Emeritus at the University of New Haven, CT, USA. The Association for Spirit at Work seeks to make a difference in the world by expanding the role of businesses, groups and organisations in transforming society. It is a non-denominational, non-profit association of people and organisations who are interested in the study and practice of spirituality in the workplace. The mission of the Association for Spirit at Work is to provide community, information, and education, for those who are integrating their work and their spirituality and for those who are called to support societal transformation through organisational development and change.
RSVP/Info: Dale Emerson, Tel : 0475 285 854 or 0477 406 435 dale.emerson@archibel.com <mailto:dale.emerson@archibel.com> or Daniel Schaubacher, 347 avenue Louise, Box 8, B 1050 Brussels ebbf@skynet.be <mailto:ebbf@skynet.be>
Tel: mobile 0478 87 29 29 www.ebbf.org <http://www.ebbf.org/> Unsubscribe : ebbf@skynet.be <mailto:ebbf@skynet.be>
EBBF invited to European Commission
EBBF was invited on December 18 to a briefing and consultation at the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, hosted by Ambassador Dr. Michael Weninger of the Bureau of European Policy Advisers/BEPA http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/policy_advisers/index_en.htm . BEPA reports directly to the President and members of the Commission on current and future issues. Ambassador Weninger whose office liaises with no less than 80 faith-based and conviction communities accredited in Brussels, discussed the deliberations of the most recent EU Council of Ministers, the priorities of the German EU Presidency in the first semester of 2007, and introduced two new projects presently initiated at the policy level for future implementation throughout Europe :
1) Investing in Youth : from childhood to adulthood, presented by a young scholar and adviser to the Commission, Frédéric Lerais frederic.lerais@ec.europa.eu : ec.europa.eu/dgs/policy_advisers/publications/index_en.htm Civil society and specialized organisations are invited to contribute materials, in particular on European values and education, for the drafting of a proposal paper by mid-January 2007.
2) The European Activities on Ethics, Science and Bioethics, under the supervision of the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies EGE, consisting of 15 experts working at or in consultation with BEPA and in cooperation with the Commission's Science and Society program, the Forum of National Ethics Councils, and with the Conference of Research Ethics - see europa.eu.int/comm/research/recs.htm This research work will define a so-called Eurobarometer on ethical values and ethics. It is part of an open debate for which views of civil society and specialized organisations are solicited. A roundatble on sustainable agriculture will take place in 2007. The presentation at the December 18 meeting was made by Maurizio Salvi, Policy Advisor to the President of the European Commission & Head of the EGE Secretariat, BERL 8/146, rue de la Loi 200, B 1049 Brussels, Tel: 0032 2 299 11 79 maurizio.salvi@ec.europa.eu ec.europa.eu/european_group_ethics/index_en.htm
EBBF is invited to contribute proposals to both projects. It could best do so by sharing information on business ethics issues it has addressed since its establishment sixteen years ago. The meeting provided a good opportunity to meet with NGO and faith-based communities' representatives.
On December 6, EBBF was invited to a selective gathering and luncheon organized by Edelman PR European office at a Brusssels hotel to discuss voluntary vs. regulatory CSR practices.
With clients such as Chiquita, Shell, GE, WalMart and the WBCSD to name a few, Edelman is at the forefront, in the private sector, to help implement and publicize viable CSR and sustainability practices of its corporate accounts active in international markets.
Tom Dodd, the CSR expert at the European Commission's Directorate General for Industry and Trade, and MEP Richard Howitt from UK, the European Parliament's rapporteur on CSR, were among the speakers.
Edelman's Brussels staff thanked EBBF for its "yet another interesting perspective to the topic". Edelman distributed a new publication on "CSR & Sustainability in the Blogosphere" which describes blogger interest in CSR-related issues, and indicates how to engage in conversation with CSR influencers and NGO's campaigning in the blogosphere.
Previously, Edelman had contributed to a presentation at the European Parliament on the effectiveness of blogs in reaching out to maverick decision makers at a meeting facilitated by MEP Graham Watson from UK.
The Finnish Presidency launched a European Network of Living Labs. This is a step towards a new European Innovation System (EIS). There is an urgent need to improve European-wide aspiration for innovation towards job creation and growth. Mr. Matti Vanhanen, Prime Minister of Finland, has emphasized that the European Network of Living Labs is a concrete action for putting Lisbon strategy in real life.
A European Network of Living Labs is a public-private-citizens partnership for creating, prototyping and validating new services, businesses, markets and technologies in real-life contexts, such as urban areas, rural areas, cities, regions, and collaborative virtual networks. The real-life and everyday life contexts will both stimulate and challenge research and development. From a market and industry creation perspective the human-centric Living Labs offer a research and innovation platform over different social and cultural systems, cross-regionally and cross-nationally. The launch will also reflect the goals of the i2010 strategy of the EU for Innovation and Investment in Research.
Are you interested in Living Labs? What is your personal interest and contribution? What is your initial European Network of Living Labs vision for 2010?
To support this network launch, the CoreLabs <http://www.corelabs.eu/> Coordination Action and the COMIST <http://www.ami-communities.eu/wiki/COMIST> Specific Support Action EU projects have announced on 6th October a
Living Labs expression of interest
To read what others have said already and to enter your own expression of interest, please see:
www.ami-communities.eu/wiki/Launching_European_Network_of_Living_Labs <http://www.ami-communities.eu/wiki/Launching_European_Network_of_Living_Labs>
EBBF Belgium at AIESEC National Conference
Under the learning partnership EBBF Belgium has with AIESEC Belgium, we were invited to contribute to the AIESEC Natl Conference, Oct. 28-29. It was held on the Belgian coast near Oostende. The vibrant and energetic group of more than 300 students from all over Belgium and many other countries came together to get opportunity to: - Develop Leadership - Gain practical skills - Get international experience and work abroad - Build a personal network - Explore themselves and their future In accordance with these AIESEC goals, EBBF rendered workshops on CSR and on Finance. I did the Finance workshop which focused on microfinance. I introduced the subject by telling about human values like trust, confidence, responsibility, consultation, social harmony, equality between men and women, and attitude to work.. Then I gave a short overview of the history, organization, and success of microcredits. I integrated the economic, social, and spriritual benefits of microcredits in such a way that it became clear that they are in harmony with the mentioned human values. Trust is needed to give a loan to people who have nothing, which gives the poor more confidence in turn to be entrepreneurial and take their responsibility in society. As loans are mostly given to groups of people, this fosters the process of consultation and social cohesion. The pressure to move to the slums of the city is relieved when people can make a proper living in the countryside. 95% of the loans is given to women, which considerably raises their status. An entrepreneurial attitude is by definition positive regarding work.After the story, the audience was divided into groups of 6 people, the 'self-help groups', as is happening in real life microcredit lending. Each member of the group got an envelope with assignments for 5 different rounds and an amount of 'money'. Each group had a credit officer who was supposed to collect the right amount of money each round. The assignments told the members that they got into the imaginary situation of being 'sick', 'not able to pay' etc. This made clear to the students how difficult it is to be solidary when you are poor and how to be responsible for eachother in a group. This exercise was developed by the UN and showed to be fascinating once again. The students were very motivated to find out more about the subject, especially why the settled finance industry is not more into microfinance. The general knowledge of microcredit seemed to have become mainstream with students. The fact that last year was the international year of microcredit and this year's Nobel Prize for Peace was awarded to microcredit pioneer Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank have greatly added to this.The conference was well organized by AIESEC's international headquarter and Belgium's Organizing Committee. Mostly students, but also many members from all over the world with an AIESEC internship in Belgium and alumni were present. This led to a fruitful cultural exchange and a true spirit of 'unity of diversity'
