News From the European Union
Entirely submitted by Daniel Schaubacher
MEP underlines EBBF's role in CSR and Social Entrepreneurship development in Europe
European Member of Parliament Richard Hewitt introduced the Social Entrepreneurship Forum at the European Union's Parliament in front of a packed hall with people standing by saying: "...thank you to the European Baha'i Business Forum for supporting so actively the development of CSR in Europe over the years and now for bringing the leading players in social entrepreneurship to the European Union..."
The event was organized by Daniel Schaubacher, EBBF's representative to EU Institutions proposed to MEP Richard Howitt an event that could bring the state of the art in European Social Entrepreneurship to the European Union in Brussels. MEP Hewitt accepted enthusiastically and added this keen interest to some of his other focuses such as the development of Corporate Social Responsibility and the Role of Business in the Promotion of Human Rights.
The result was a conference co-organized between EBBF and The Club of Rome bringing to the European Parliament some of the key players in the area of Social Entrepreneurship in a workshop / presentation that attracted a completely full hall of individuals interested in the topic. In fact the interest was so high that the conference registrations had to be closed days before the event due to lack of available space.
The afternoon event chaired by Daniel Schaubacher had MEP Richard Hewitt opening the session followed by an introduction to social entrepreneurship by EBBF's Secretary General and himself a social entrepreneur Daniel Truran, mentioning the case of The Hub then a deepening of the role of social entrepreneurship was offered by Parag Gupta of the Schwab Foundation, followed by the practical case of just one of the many Ashoka Fellows introduced by Arnaud Mourot. René Schmidpeter of the Bertelsmann Foundation then broadened the scope making the link to some areas of involvement for social entrepreneurs with Angela Lawaldt, another EBBF member putting her values into practice, offering the interesting perspective of the new breed of Social Venture Investors. Dr. Christian Weinberger of DG Enterprise closed the session offering an overview of the EU's work in this field.
Click on this link view the page where you can download the presentations offered by EBBF, Ashoka, The Schwab Foundation, The Bertelsmann Stiftung and Bonventure.
Europe & UN combat maritime piracy, counterfeiting, crimes of of cultural heritage, environment crimes. New Trends in International Crime: The International Response
At a recent conference in Brussels, EU and UN experts and officials reported in detail on European and international efforts to monitor, control and combat maritime piracy, counterfeiting, crimes of cultural heritage, and environment crimes. Presentations made at this conference are available on the Madariaga Foundation’s website : www.madariaga.org . The Foundation represents the College of Europe in Bruges and hosted the conference which was well attended. It was coorganized by UN and EU agencies in Brussels For further information, go to the following websites of : UNICRI/UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute, and UNRIC/UN Regional Information Centre for Europe www.unicri.it and www.unric.org ; or contact Michela Costa, UNICRI Liaison Fellow in Brussels, Residence Palace, Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 155, Block C2, 7th floor, 1040 Brussels, Belgium, Tel : +(32) 2 788 8482 Mobile +(32) 493 680737 costa@unicri.it
Presenting the role of spirituality in business as a key motivating factor in Brussels
Daniel Schaubacher invited EBBF Secretary General Daniel Truran to a presentation and open conversation on the theme of "spirituality in business - motivating meaningful organizations". The response was excellent with a full-house receiving with great interest some of the ideas and insights that show the role of spirituality to motivate individuals. As you can see from the photo many people had to sit on the floor due to the high turnout, another sign of how mature the times are for new ideas to permeate business.
A number of case studies were offered showing how more business leaders than we think are actually guided by spiritual principles for their key ethical decisions. There is also an increased need by people to create more meaningful workplaces and "higher" values are a clear motivator allowing for more engaged staff and higher retention levels ultimately leading to more successful organizations.
The hour long presentation was then followed by a lively conversation and guest left the event late in the night.
