Ethos Festival of Public Ethics 2023: Second Edition

Corporate social responsibility, workplace inclusion, philanthropy, energy, ethics, and finance. Once again, the focus is on merit and sustainability. These and many other topics are at the heart of the Public Ethics Festival – “Be New, Be Now,” organized by Ethos, the Public Ethics Observatory at Luiss Business School, in collaboration with the Musica per Roma Foundation. The second edition of the event, taking place from Friday, October 6 to Sunday, October 8, 2023 at the Auditorium Parco della Musica “Ennio Morricone,” will focus on the relationship between ethics and business. This comes at a time when companies are undergoing profound transformation, accelerated by the “dual transition” to digital and sustainable practices.

Business ethics is the focus of the Ethos Observatory’s significant international research initiative. Over the past academic year, this initiative engaged students, researchers, professors, entrepreneurs, and managers from partner companies and institutions—including Aeroporti di Roma, Intesa Sanpaolo, Gucci, Branca International, KME Group, Q8, and SFC - Sistemi Formativi Confindustria—in a series of seminars and workshops on ESG topics. The Wharton Business School (University of Pennsylvania) also participated.

The 2023 Public Ethics Festival, therefore, marks the final moment for sharing and public discussion with over 50 Italian and international guests, who are among the leading experts in business ethics.

“The urgency for a renewed reflection on the relationship between ethics and business stems from the premise that the business world has been profoundly transformed by the digital revolution, as well as by the growing focus on sustainability, which has now become the norm rather than the exception in the international realms of work, production, and finance,” says philosopher Sebastiano Maffettone. “The impacts of this dual revolution present research with a key question: Will sustainability enhance the competitiveness of businesses, or does it reflect a profound shift in attitudes that, in the name of outcomes benefiting the community, could lead to the opposite result? With the 2023 Public Ethics Festival, we aim to spark reflection with the help of managers, scholars, and key figures in public life, building on the work done by the Ethos Observatory. Because finding an answer in the near future will be of paramount importance.”

“With the second edition of Ethos, the Public Ethics Festival organized in collaboration with the Luiss Business School ,” says Daniele Pittèri, CEO of the Musica per Roma Foundation, “the Musica per Roma Foundation is renewing its commitment to fostering public debate on key issues in contemporary society, this time by connecting and comparing the academic and business worlds. After addressing the topics of digitization, dematerialization, and the profound changes that artificial intelligence is bringing to all of our lives last year, this year’s festival will focus on the relationship between ethics and business, as well as the new world of work that is taking shape through the ongoing, far-reaching transformations, driven by digitization and new sustainability-related demands. This edition will primarily focus on young people, the key players of the immediate future, who will have to confront and deal with the new and unpredictable scenarios that lie ahead.”

The Festival will kick off on Friday, October 6, at 10:00 a.m., with philosopher Sebastiano Maffettone, Director of Ethos, and Daniele Pittèri, CEO of the Musica per Roma Foundation.

There will be numerous panels, starting with a reflection on the relationship between ethics and profit—the dilemma of contemporary economics—featuring Carlo Petrini, Marcello Messori, Pier Luigi Petrillo, and Laura Valente (Friday, October 6 at 10:30 AM in the Spazio Risonanze). Marta Bertolaso, Livio Livi, and Maurizio Zipponi, along with Corriere della Sera journalist Barbara Millucci, will speak on the topic of Rethinking Work. People, data, technologies, forms, and spaces (Friday, October 6 at 11:30 AM in the Sala Ospiti), while Vincenzo Manes will discuss ethics, business, and philanthropy with TG1 journalist Marco Valerio Lo Prete (Friday, October 6 at 12:00 PM in the Spazio Risonanze). Ethics and data will be the main topic of discussion with Paolo Benanti, Emanuela Totaro, Francesco Caio, and Luigi Serra, moderated by RAI journalist Barbara Carfagna (Friday at 3:00 PM in the Spazio Risonanze). “Women, Work, and Economic Growth” is the title of the keynote speech by Alessandra Perrazzelli, Deputy Director General of the Bank of Italy and founder of Valore D (Friday, October 6 at 4:30 PM in the Spazio Risonanze). Marco Pagano and Claudio De Vincenti will bring the first day to a close with a discussion on Human Capital, Meritocracy, and Territorial Differences (Friday, October 6, at 5:30 PM in the Spazio Risonanze).

Saturday’s program will kick off with a talk by the President of Luiss Business School, Luigi Abete, moderated by the editor of Milano Finanza, Roberto Sommella (Ethics and Business: The Challenge of Training – Saturday, October 7 at 10:30 AM, Spazio Risonanze). The program will continue with the panels “From Washing to Impact,” led by Carlo Pontecorvo, Elena Granaglia, and Fabrizio Sammarco and moderated by Fausta Speranza, a journalist from Radio Vaticana (Saturday, October 7 at 11:00 AM in the Spazio Risonanze), and “New Frontiers of Business Ethics.” A transcultural outlook, featuring international experts like Leif Wenar, Aaron Benanav, Anniina Autero, Aakash Singh Rathore, and Zaid Eyadat (Saturday, October 7 at 12:00 PM in Spazio Risonanze).

Luiss students from Young Ethos, the spin-off of the Observatory led by young people from the university, will play an active role in the Festival during the session: Stories that matter. Forms and Gestures of Inclusion, featuring Emiliana De Blasio, Domenico Melidoro, Alice Bellante, and Stefania Mastroeni (Saturday, October 7 at 3:00 PM in Spazio Risonanze).

In the afternoon, the focus will be on Art as a cultural and social enterprise with Gianluca Riccio, Alessandra D'Innocenzo Fini Zarri, and Gianmaria Tosatti (Saturday, October 7 at 4:30 PM in Spazio Risonanze), as well as on Ethics and the Generation Gap. Between NEETs and the Silver Economy with Elisa Zambito Marsala, Maria Rita Testa, Giacomo Marino Melilla, Claudio Mattia Serafin, and Massimo Angelini (Saturday, October 7 at 5:30 PM in Spazio Risonanze).

<p > On the final day, Sebastiano Maffettone and Raffaele Oriani, Dean of Luiss Business School, will introduce a talk by Rob Reich, Professor of Political Science at Stanford University (Philanthropy and Civil Society, Sunday, October 8 at 10:30 AM, Spazio Risonanze). There will also be a discussion on the economy and innovation between the public and private sectors, featuring Giulio Napolitano, Valentina Gentile, Alberto Valenza, and Cristiano Busco, moderated by Osvaldo De Paolini, deputy editor of Il Giornale (Sunday, October 8, at 11:30 AM in the Spazio Risonanze). Writer Giuseppe Lupo will present his latest work, La modernità malintesa. Una controstoria dell'industria italiana (Marsilio, 2023), discussing it with Domenico Melidoro and Beniamino De' Liguori (Sunday, October 8 at 12:00 p.m. in the Sala Ospiti). The Festival will conclude on Sunday at 12:30 PM in the Spazio Risonanze, with Nino D'Angelo taking the stage for the discussion “L'ascensore sociale si è inceppato? Passaggi di testimone” (Has the social elevator gotten stuck? Passing the baton).

The program features two theatrical performances: Companies Talks - The Story of WhatsApp (Friday the 6th at 6:30 PM in the Sala Ospiti, free admission) and “Che ci faccio qui” by Domenico Iannacone (Friday the 6th at 9:00 PM in the Teatro Studio, paid admission). 

Admission is free while seats are available. You can download your ticket by registering at www.ticketone.it or at the Auditorium Parco della Musica box office.

To view the full program, visit: www.auditorium.com

 

 

Ethos Luiss Business School is a public ethics observatory directed by Sebastiano Maffettone. Established in 2019 at Luiss Business School, it conducts research, provides consulting, and offers training across various areas of public ethics. Ethos delves into the ethical and political implications of business, medicine, sustainability, and artificial intelligence, engaging some of the most influential figures in national and international academia.