European SPES Forum

1) There are two kinds of membership in the European SPES Forum. On the one hand, there are the founding members who are participating in an active and substantial way in the SPES project and who co-define the philosophy and the agenda of the European SPES Forum. On the other hand, there are many individuals interested in the activities of the Forum and who want to attend the colloquia and conferences. These individuals may become associated members by paying an annual and individualised fee (currently 25 euros for one year or 45 euros for a two year membership). Associated members will be informed about the activities of the Forum ( by electronic mail) and gain a price reduction for conferences and colloquia. Both founding and associated members constitute the European SPES Forum.

2) The founding members of the European SPES Forum are, primarily, motivated people who represent centres and organisations that are actively committed to the European SPES Forum. They may host a conference or workshop, undertake a cooperative research project, help in fundraising or take initiatives in cooperation with other members of the SPES network. Together they form the European SPES Council. The Council can, by cooptation, introduce new partners and interested people. Cooptation would require at least the consent of the majority of the Council’s members. After a period of five years, membership of the SPES council should be evaluated.

* The Centres and organisations which attended the founding meeting in Leuven during 22-23 October 2004 will be invited to become the first founding partners. They may, by cooptation, admit new partners during the next meeting.

3) The steering committee consists of five (to a maximum of seven) people. Their role is to stimulate and to organise the activities of the Forum. Each member of the SPES Council may become a candidate member of the steering committee if he/she has the support for at least three members of the Council. The members of the steering committee must be elected by the Council. They gain a mandate for three years. The chief coordinator of the SPES Forum is nominated by the steering committee from one if its members and proposed to the Council. Other functions may be stipulated by the steering committee. The steering committee can create an Advisory Board of people who are especially committed to the future of the SPES Forum.

* During the founding meeting in Leuven, a provisional steering committee was installed. The committee consists of László Zsolnai, Vincent Triest, Luk Bouckaert as the three initiators of the meeting and, by cooptation, Suzan Langenberg, Mike Thompson and Josep Lozano. Their task is to develop a charter and a more transparent structure for the European SPES Forum and to prepare the next meeting. During the next meeting a formal election will be organized where other members of the SPES Council may propose their candidature.

4) Coordination centre. As proposed during the founding meeting in October 2004, the Centre for Economics and Ethics of the University of Leuven (Belgium) in cooperation with the SPES Academy will coordinate the European SPES Forum and maintain a database. It will also organise the second meeting of the European SPES Forum. During this meeting a programme for 2005-2010 will be developed.

5) Financing and fundraising . There are two ways of financing the activities of the European SPES Forum. Part of the cost may be supported by the founding partners e.g. by hosting a conference, or by financing their own travel costs or other costs of participation. But to launch some international initiatives we need a fundraising budget. As a European network, we may try to get some funding from the European Commission but this requires a significant time commitment. A more straightforward way is to present our SPES project to international foundations which support spiritually driven initiatives in their mission.

6) Juridical status. At this moment the European SPES Forum is an autonomous, informal organisation coordinated by the Centre for Economics and Ethics (Catholic University of Leuven). It could become an autonomous non-profit organisation (under Belgian law if the coordination centre remains in Leuven).