The World post-COVID-19 Pandemic: A Humanist Vision for Sustainable Development

As part of its broader project, “The World post-COVID-19 Pandemic: a Humanist Vision for Sustainable Development”, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization is launching the “What will the World look like after the Pandemic?” online platform, which aims to bring together ideas, opinions and recommendations from a series of notable personalities active in essential fields such as education, culture, scientific research, technological advancement, natural resources and biodiversity, sociology, psychology, cultural diplomacy, ethics, moral philosophy, civic responsibility and leadership.

“The World after the COVID-19 Pandemic” is a project undertaken in collaboration with prestigious think-tanks on the basis of established partnerships with the World Academy of Art and Science, the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre, the Marmara Group Foundation, the Berlin Academy of Cultural Diplomacy and the Black Sea Universities Network, alongside other academic and civil society organizations with which the Institute is in deliberation.

The online electronic platform will host the “How will the World look like after the Pandemic?” international conference, organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization in partnership with the Black Sea Universities Network on May 14^th 2020. In the near future, proceedings from two further international conferences will be featured: “The role of Academia in the Implementation of the UN’s SDGs through the COVID-19 Crisis” (organized in partnership with the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre and scheduled for June 3^rd 2020) and “Global Leadership for the 21^st Century. Strategies for Transformative Global Leadership” (organized in partnership with the World Academy of Art and Science and the United Nations Office in Geneva and scheduled for June 15^th-19^th 2020). The preliminary meeting for this conference, “Global Leadership for the 21^st Century. Strategies for Transformative Global Leadership”, was held on April 30^th 2020 »»»

The debates organized thus far were attended by:

• • Garry Jacobs (CEO of the World Academy of Art and Science)
  • Juri Engelbrecht (Chairman of the Estonian Academy of Science, former Chairman of the European Academic Association)
  • Ernst von Weizsacker (Vice-President of the Club of Rome, 2012-2018)
  • Alberto Zucconi (Director of the Institute for a Person-Centred Approach, Italy, and WAAS Treasurer)
  • Stefan Brunnhuber (Medical Director at the European Institute of Medicine, Salzburg)
  • Frank Dixon (Sustainability and Systemic Change Advisor)
  • Jerome Glenn (inventor and CEO of the Millennium Project)
  • Ketan Patel (CEO and founder of Great Pacific Capital)
  • Lennart Levi (Emeritus Professor, Stress Research Centre, University of Stockholm)
  • Marco Vitiello (Department of Political Science at the Universitá Roma Tre)
  • Professor Rodolfo Fiorini (Polytechnic University of Milan)
  • Professor Thomas Reuter (Asia Institute of the University of Melbourne)
  • Momir Djurovic (President of the Montenegrin Academy of Science)
  • Donato Kiniger-Passigli (WAAS Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva)
  • Professor Remus Pricopie (Chancellor of the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization and WAAS Fellow)
  • Professor Adrian Curaj (Director of the Executive Unit for Financing Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation, member of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization and WAAS Fellow)
  • Professor Eden Mamut (Secretary General of the Black Sea Universities Network)
  • Professor Jeffrey Sachs (University of Columbia)
  • Ramu Damodaran (Director of UN Academic Impact)
  • Professor Pericles Mitkas (Chairman of the Black Sea Universities Network)
  • Professor David Méndez (Chancellor of the A.G. Méndez University, Puerto Rico)
  • Professor Karin Markides (Chancellor of the American University in Armenia)

The June 3^rd video-conference on “The Role of Academia in the Implementation of the UN’s SDGs through the COVID-19 Crisis”, organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization in partnership with the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre will be attended by:

• Rexhep Meidani, former President of Albania, President of the Albanian National Academy of Science
• Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, former President of the Republic of Mauritius, Chancellor of the University of Mauritius and scientific researcher in biodiversity
• Rosalia Arteaga, former President of Ecuador and Ecuadorian Minister of Education
• Filip Vujanovic, former President of Montenegro
• Garry Jacobs, CEO of the World Academy of Art and Science
• Professor Luiza Spiru, Chairman of the “Ana Aslan” International Foundation
• Winston P. Nagan, Member of the Board of Trustees of the World Academy of Art and Science, University of Florida, United States

For the “Global Leadership for the 21^st Century. Strategies for Transformative Global Leadership”, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization is organizing two distinct panels. The first, moderated by the Institute’s president, Professor Emil Constantinescu, will discuss “The Responsibility of the Academic Environment in Elaborating a Vision and Strategy for Global Governance in the 21^st Century”. The second, chaired by Professor Dan Grigorescu, the Institute’s Scientific Director, will focus on “The Role of the Academic Environment in Fostering Sustainable Regional Development”.