Research/Projects

Globethics Academy – Online courses on ethics

Globethics Academy is a new project being developed by Globethics.net in cooperation with the  World Academy with the aim of offering online courses on ethics. The project will bring together ethicists from all around the world to lecture on various topics in the field of ethics by offering diverse points of view. The first course is focused on responsible leadership and will treat this theme from different cultural and professional contexts and its launch is planned for July and will be announced in one of our next newsletters.

Responsible Leadership in Action. The Value of Values

There are less than 8 weeks left until the start of our Global Ethics Forum 2015! We have received many registrations and there are not many seats left so if you would like to be part of this endeavour to develop tools for responsible leadership hurry and register today. The Global Ethics Forum (GEF) is Globethics.net's flagship, international, multi-stakeholder, think-and-do tank event.

The topic of the 2015 conference taking place in Geneva, Switzerland from 25-27 June 2015 is "Responsible Leadership in Action. The Value of Values".  This year's focus on action means workshops are at the heart of the programme, the goal being the discussion of tools for responsible leadership on the first day, and the development of plans to amplify the impact of these tools on the second day. Some of the workshops reflect current Globethics.net projects, and will thus allow you a deeper insight into some of our most exciting activities. Among these projects are our Codes of Ethics Collection (GEF Workshop 1), Values-Based Sustainability Trainings for SMEs (GEF Workshop 8), Integrity Trainings for Responsible Elections (GEF Workshop 11).

We expect 120 leaders and future leaders from the business world, the public sector, academia, NGOs, and religious organisations.  Places are limited, so do register soon. We are looking forward to interesting discussions and outcomes at the Global Ethics Forum 2015 in Geneva in June!

 

Chinese entrepreneurs to become ethical leaders

The third annual visit of Chinese entrepreneurs organised by Globethics.net and its partner in China, the Kingdom Business College, took place from 17-27 April 2015. A new group of entrepreneurs from Beijing, Shenyang and Wuhan provinces followed in the footsteps of their colleagues from the 2013 and 2014 visits, and took a journey to discover and develop new ideas about leading an enterprise based on ethical values. The ten-day intensive training took place in three countries and four cities: Rome, Geneva, Basel, Taizé and Paris. The cultural and religious visits and workshops, and encounters with social and international institutions, such as the Red Cross and the United Nations in Geneva, included topics such as impact investments, philanthropy and Christian values.

The Chinese entrepreneurs learned about the roots of Christianity in Rome, and followed in the footsteps of Calvin in Geneva and of Karl Barth  and the Center for Religion, Economy and Ethicsin Basel. A trip to the Swiss mountains was accompanied by the question about the link between faith and nature. The visitors were introduced to the Globethics.net Leadership Center (GLC) and its Values-based Enterprises Certificate programme in China, which is in the process of finalising training modules for Chinese entrepreneurs. They expressed great interest in the various projects undertaken by Globethics.net, aimed at supporting individuals to make an impact in the world through values-driven leadership and to inspire, empower and connect people worldwide to practice ethical leadership for positive impact.

The Chinese entrepreneurs learned about the roots of Christianity in Rome, and followed the footsteps of Calvin in Geneva and the reformists' in Basel. A trip to the Swiss mountains was accompanied by the question about the link between faith and nature. The visitors were introduced to the Globethics.net Leadership Center (GLC) and its Values-based Enterprises Certificate program in China, which is in process of finalizing training modules for Chinese entrepreneurs. They expressed great interest in the various projects undertaken by the Globethics.net, aiming at supporting individuals to impact the world through values-driven leadership and to inspire, empower and connect people worldwide to practice ethical leadership for positive impact.

 

Publications

Globethics.net publications: new series and new books

Globethics.net Publications has been growing from four initial series - the Global, Focus, Texts and Theses Series - to four additional series - the African Law, Praxis, China Christian Series and the China Ethics Series most recently in 2015. With a co-publishing agreement between Globethics.net and the Conference of European Churches (CEC), a new ninth's series in cooperation with CEC has been developed. This CEC Series is focused on historical essays, in the context of the Conference of European Churches (CEC), an ecumenical fellowship of churches in Europe. The first book is "The European Vision and the Churches: the Legacy of Marc Lenders" by Win Burton (read the press release and see below for more details).

 

 

The European Vision and the Churches: The Legacy of Marc Lenders (2015)
Win Burton
Globethics.net CEC No. 1
ISBN 978-2-88931-053-1

This is a book about centres: the centre of a pastor's lifelong ministry, the centre of the European Union, and the centre of Europe's ecumenical community. For more than thirty years Pastor Marc Lenders lived out his vocation bringing Christians from across traditions and across Europe into deep relationship with their unique social, cultural, and political context. Through his eyes discover how Marc Lenders courageously signed up for a job in 1966 that had no description and upon his retirement in 1999 left a growing and vibrant legacy of dialogue, debate, and engagement between the churches of Europe and the political institutions that represent its people.

Free PDF Version [PDF - English - 253 Pages - 2.0 Mb]
Order print copies from [Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.fr | Amazon.de]


Right to Food Ethics: Theological Approaches of Asbjørn Eide (2015)
Jude Likori Omukaga
Globethics.net Theses No. 8
ISBN 978-2-88931-047-0

The question of hunger world-wide is a striking paradox: Why should the world that enjoys a radically advanced human civilization still face threats of disease and death from hunger and starvation? This paradox provokes three other related questions: Firstly, what exactly does hunger as a world problem consist in, and how does it come about? Secondly, the persistence of this paradox compels the question as to whether there have been attempts to its solution: What are these attempts, and why does hunger still persist?

Free PDF Version [PDF - English - 611 pages - 3.7 Mb]
Order print copies [Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.fr | Amazon.de]

News from the Head Office

Spring Board meeting

The Globethics.net international Board of Foundation held its first meeting of the year in Geneva from 1-2 May 2015. New Board member Joan Dubinsky, Director of the Ethics Office of the United Nations based in New York attended the meeting for the first time. The Board approved the Annual Report and audited accounts 2014 and discussed many topics such as an evaluation and the preparation of the Globethics.net Strategy 2016-2019.

Doing Ethics in an Imperfect World: Instruments and Dilemmas in the United Nations System

What sorts of ethical dilemmas do members of the staff of the United Nations face? During a lecture at the Graduate Institute Geneva on 30 April 2015, organised in association with Globethics.net, Joan Dubinsky, Director of the UN Ethics Office (or Chief Ethics Officer for the United Nations), used participant interaction and case studies to draw members of the audience into real-life quandaries facing UN personnel.

Dubinsky, a newly elected member of the Board of Foundation of Globethics.net who is due to retire from her UN functions later in 2015, reports to the UN Secretary-General, and  guides the UN in maintaining an ethical organisational culture amidst the diversity of the UN. She also chairs the Ethics Panel of the United Nations, which promotes harmonisation and collaboration among the ethics functions within the UN system.

Issues raised in the discussion included the UN Oath of Office for International Civil Servants, by which UN personnel pledge to "regulate [their] conduct with the interests of the United Nations only in view, and not to seek or accept instructions in regard to the performance of [their] duties from any Government or other source external to the Organization". As one person remarked, "Sometimes you don't know you are in a moral dilemma until it is over."

 

Dubinsky formerly served as Director of Ethics for BAE Systems, Inc., Chief Ethics Officer for the International Monetary Fund, as well as Ethics Officer, Associate General Counsel and Corporate Secretary for the American Red Cross. Among her publications, she co-authored Global Ethics and Integrity Benchmarks (2008 and 2015 editions).

News from the Regional Programmes

Global Competition on Responsible Leadership

Globethics.net's first global competition with the topic ‘Responsible Leadership' just ended last week. The competition run through the nine Globethics.net regional programmes (China, East Africa, Francophone Africa, India, Indonesia, South America, Southern Africa, Russia and Turkey) who will now review all the contributions made on the topic of responsible leadership. Winners will be selected at the regional level and the best of the entries will be submitted for selection at the global level with awards for the best. The first results should be made available by mid-May and then in June for the global level.

Globethics.net India: The People's Synod of the Church of South India

"A people effort towards a corruption free Church"

The People's Synod of Church of South India (CSI) was successfully launched on 28 March 2015 at Chennai, South India.  The People's Synod is a congregational platform for the members of the CSI to freely articulate their hopes and aspirations for good governance in the life of the Church.  The inauguration was attended by 120 members from all over CSI.  The conference was addressed by Dr Jayakaran Isaac former Principal of the CSI Voorese College Vellore, Dr John Dorai, General secretary of the CSITA Beneficiary Association, Dr Siga Arles, Secretary of MRRC and Rev. Jacob Belly of Globethics.net India.

After a great deal of deliberation, free and frank discussion, the People's Synod unanimously passed a number of resolutions including a unanimous acknowledgement that the Church of South India and the Church of South India Trust Association are in a state of deep crisis and that creative and bold actions are needed to meet the crisis. Among the demands are a democratisation of the Church's administration, and transparency and accountability in the administration. Moreover a Code of Conduct for all those in positions of authority based on internationally accepted standards for holding Public Office should be formed and enforced. Read more...

Globethics.net Turkey: 5th International Ethics Summit: Understanding Today, Inspiring Tomorrow

The Turkish Ethics and Reputation Society (TEID), the host institution of Globethics.net Turkey is organising the 5th International Ethics Summit at Istanbul Bilgi University on 17 June 2015 with the support of Globethics.net, the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN) and the United Nations Global Compact. Read more...

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