International conference on the Lessons of the pandemic

The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization Centre of Excellence of the World Academy of Art & Science

The world post COVID-19 pandemic

A humanist vision for a sustainable development

December 17, 2020

 

In May 2020, the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization (ISACCL) launched the “The world post COVID-19 pandemic. A humanist vision for a sustainable development” project, which took the form of an online platform simply titled “What will the world look like after the pandemic?”. The goal of the project was to gather contributions from as many fields of activity as possible – education, culture, scientific research, technological progress, natural resources and biodiversity, sociology, psychology, cultural diplomacy, ethics, civic responsibility, and leadership.

Through these contributions, the authors attempted to find answers to the questions that troubled us all – among them:

  • What will our respective fields of activity look like after the end of the pandemic?
  • Will there be a “new normal”? And if so, can we predict how “new” it will really be?
  • What should each of us do to adapt to the new situation after the pandemic?

The contributions received thus far have all attempted to identify the principal issues plaguing every field of activity, seeking to provide solutions and recommendations for the global crisis’ aftermath. However, the pandemic is still ongoing; and out attempt to compile a collection of recommendations and visions on the post-COVID-19 world might, in hindsight, have been slightly rash.

Consequently, the present conference brings together several of the original contributors to the “What will the world look like after the pandemic?” platform, in an attempt to revisit the lessons the pandemic taught us. It is still too early to speak of lessons learned. Instead, we should focus on the problems we identified, and attempt to transform them in the most instructive of lessons.

 

Opening session

Panel Discussion

 

At the 8th edition of the Global Baku Forum for the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization

The event took place over the ZOOM platform on Thursday December 17th, 2020, 16.00-18.00 Eastern European Time
Schedule:
16.00 Opening sessionEmil Constantinescu, President of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization, President of Romania 1996-2000
Invited speakers:

  • Garry Jacobs, CEO and Chair of the World Academy of Art and Science – A Planetary Moment and Momentum
  • Dr. Akkan Suver, President of the Marmara Foundation Group- Tomorrow will not look like today!
  • László Borbély, State Counsellor for the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Romania, Coordinator of the Department for Sustainable Development of the General Secretariat of the Romanian Government – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the markers for a sustainable post-pandemic reconstruction
  • Shoshana Bekerman, Director of the InterParliamentary Coalition for Global Ethics – Moving from the pandemic to a global culture of peace
  • Emil Dinga, Professor in Economics and Economic Philosophy, Romanian Academy, A sketch of human society after the COVID 19 pandemic
  • Fadwa El Guindi, Ph.D., retiree anthropologist, UCLA, Trustee, World Academy of Art & Science – Rediscovering Our Humanness
  • Stefan Brunnhuber, Medical Director and Chief Medical Officer, Diakonie Hospital, Germany; WAAS Trustee – The Planetary Momentum. Asymmetric shocks, global mental preparedness for change — the paradigm shift and the economics of anti-fragility
  • Ash Pachauri, Associate Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Science, Senior Mentor Protect Our Planet Movement – The COVID-19 Pandemic’s warning to the world.
  • Winston P. Nagan, Professor at the University of Florida, United States, member of the World Academy of Art and Science Board of Trustees – Sovereign Absolutism: A Political Pre-Existing Condition Amplifying the Danger of COVID-19.

Questions and Answers
Closing remarks