Club of Budapest

Club of Budapest

Ervin Laszlo recalls that: “We had a wonderful start-up team, made up of my old friend Ivan Vitanyi and his two closest collaborators, the social psychologist and musical creativity researcher Maria Sagi and the polygot dance and culture historian Gedeon Dienes.”

"Founded in 1993, the global Club of Budapest is an informal international association dedicated to developing a new way of thinking and a new ethics that will help resolve the social, political, economic, and ecological challenges of the 21st century. With its roster of internationally renowned members the Club initiates a dialogue between different belief systems and world views in order to co-create and develop effective strategies for responsible and sustainable action with a global focus.

"The idea of the Club of Budapest was developed in 1978 in a discussion between Aurelio Peccei, founder and first president of the Club of Rome, and Ervin Laszlo, systems philosopher and also member of the Club of Rome at that time. They were convinced that the enormous challenges to humanity can only be dealt with through the development of a cultural and cosmopolitan consciousness. Based on these ideas, the Club of Budapest was founded by Dr. Laszlo in 1993. The founding city and namesake of the Club lies at the heart of Europe and is spread out over both banks of the River Danube. The successful merging of the two cities Buda and Pest is symbolized by the famous Chain Bridge. It visualizes our ambition to build bridges between generations, disciplines and cultures. Therefore, it was selected as the logo and signet for the objectives of the Club. The main essence of the global efforts lies in the initiation of dialogue.

"Since 2008 the operational platform of the Club of Budapest is the WorldShift Network, which was established by Ervin Laszlo, Wolfgang Riehn and Johannes Heimrath in 2007 as an international foundation. It has its seat in Germany. In future the WorldShift Network will be responsible for the international projects of the Club as well as for the coordination of the National Clubs."

"The World Wisdom Council (WWC) has been convened by the Club of Budapest in cooperation with the World Commission on Global Consciousness and Spirituality in the conviction that the paramount requirement in this age of discontinuity and * President
 * Ervin Laszlo

Board of Directors
 * Maria Sagi

Board of Founders Board of Trustees
 * Elemer Hankis
 * Ivan Vitanyi
 * Peter Zwack
 * Bill Gladstone
 * Lady Fiona Montagu of Beaulieu
 * Gale Newhouse


 * Club of Budapest: Members

==Laureats of the Planetary Consciousness Award 1996—2004 ==
 * 1996: Václav Havel
 * 1997: Mikhail Gorbachev, Muhammad Yunus, Huschmand Sabet
 * 1998: Desmond Tutu
 * 1999: Kofi Annan
 * 2001: Hans Küng
 * 2002: Paulo Coelho, Shimon Peres, Sir Peter Ustinov
 * 2004: Nelson Mandela, Franz Josef Radermacher, Vadim Sagladin

==Laureats of the Change the World—Best Practice Award 2002—2004 ==
 * 2002: FUNDAEC, Colombia: Gustavo Correa; Instituto Reciclar-T3, Brazil: Aguida Zanol; Women's Empowerment Program, Nepal: Marcia Odell
 * 2003: POEMA, Brazil: Matthias Kleinert & G. Rathgeb; International Network for Environmental Management: Georg Winter; Menschen für Menschen, Ethiopia: Almaz & Karlheinz Böhm; Fashion for Development, Bangladesh: Bibi Russell; Mariposa, Tenerife: Helga & Hans-Jürgen Müller
 * 2004: Gemeinsam für Afrika; Pan y Arte, Nicaragua: Dietmar Schönherr; Andheri-Hilfe, Bangladesh: Rosi Gollmann; Solidarity in Partnership, Haiti: Peter Hesse

Contact

 * Web: http://www.clubofbudapest.org

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