The Social Trends Institute (STI) is an international research centre dedicated to the analysis of globally significant social trends. STI focuses its research on four subject areas: Family; Bioethics; Culture and Lifestyles; and Corporate Governance.  STI pioneered the model of  Expert Meetings and publishes research across these fields. As non-profit and independent centre it offers institutional and financial support to institutions and academics who seek to make sense of emerging social trends and their effects on human communities. STI has been collaborating with HRF since 2015.

Home Renaissance Foundation has led an Experts Meeting focused on Home and Climate Change in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs to find out how homes and families can meet the challenges of climate change.

Conclusions and recommendations to be published soon…

Academics and Experts involved in the partnership:

Gamal Abdelmonem | Professor and Chair of Architecture and Director of the Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Global Heritage at Nottingham Trent University.

Antonio Argandoña | HRF director and Emeritus Professor of Economics and of Business Ethics and holds the “la Caixa” Chair of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance at IESE Business School, University of Navarra.

Renata Kaczmarska | Social Affairs Officer and a Focal Point on the Family located in the Division for Inclusive Social Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) at the United Nations Secretariat in New York.

SEE HERE THE EVENT PROGRAMME

This Communication Project is “close to home” as within its pages it touches on things closest to us all. When we asked the question “What makes you happy?” we were not looking this time for expert analyses but heartfelt responses. And this is certainly what we received. As you read the thoughts of a rich variety of voices and look at the drawings sent to accompany them it is hard not to be moved. For at the heart of happiness are those we love.

The quality of our relationships has the greatest impact on our lives. Our personal well-being is inextricably linked to how we relate to those around us. There is increasing evidence that health and economic outcomes are also shaped by this – those in strong and stable unions enjoy both the daily and life-long benefits of being in good relationships. Of being able to thrive, not just survive.

At Home Renaissance Foundation we know that good relationships start at home. They are built and modelled when we are young and equip us to build positive relationships. Supporting the home supports the flourishing and well-being of each new generation, as the many young contributors to this report can testify.

We hope you will enjoy reading this report and commend it to you now as an encouragement to value all those things closest to home for us all.

ENGLISH VERSION | HOME AND HAPPINESS

SPANISH VERSION | HOGAR Y FELICIDAD

Understanding the power of home to transform societies in the face of Climate Emergency.

28-29 September 2023 | Nottingham Conference Centre, Nottingham Trent University, UK

Organisers: Home Renaissance Foundation (HRF), Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA)

This Expert Meeting aims to explore the role home and family play in the transition towards a sustainable and carbon-neutral planet, where our Carbon footprint is neutralised by offsetting our consumption with the production of clean energy and a sustainable lifestyle. Building on the lessons learnt during COVID-19 Pandemic, and the global response to a universal emergency, this meeting will bring experts, scholars and scientists from diverse disciplines, professions, and research backgrounds to debate the challenges and opportunities facing the home as societal institutions to achieve that goal. It tries to respond to a key question, ‘how can we engage more effectively with the home and family as a resilient unit to help societies and economies compact Climate Change?’

Key Questions

1. How far do we understand the impact and consequences of climate change and global warming on the health and wellbeing home and families at home?
2. How far is the home, as central social unit, is considered in the current policies, plans and international response to Climate Change?
3. What are current conceptual, theoretical knowledge gap about the potential role and value of the home in achieving net-zero cities’ targets?
4. What scientific evidence do we have on the obstacles and challenges facing households and the opportunities they offer in responding to extreme weather conditions and situations?
5. What are the frameworks that enable the home and family to become effective plays in productive and carbon-neutral economy and trade? What policy approaches we can adopt in response.
6. To what extent our neighbourhood planning, land use, digital infrastructure enables the home to play a key role in re-distributing our Carbon emission and
7. How can the results of this work be incorporated into new policy and actions?

Academic Leaders

Mohamed Gamal Abdelmonem is Chair in Architecture and the Founding Director of the Centre for Architecture, Urbanism and Global Heritage (CAUGH), and co-lead of Global Heritage Research at Nottingham Trent University. He previously lectured and taught architecture and design at The Royal Academy of Arts in London, University of California at Berkeley, University of Sheffield and Queen’s University Belfast. Professor Abdelmonem advises several governments and international organisations on aspects of sustainable heritage preservation, urban planning and the architecture of home. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the 2014 recipient of the Jeffrey Cook Award for outstanding research in the Built Environment.

Antonio Argandoña holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Barcelona. He is Emeritus Professor of Economics and of Business Ethics and holds the “la Caixa” Chair of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance at IESE Business School, University of Navarra. He is a member of the Royal Academy of Economics and Finance of Spain, President of the Standing Committee on Professional Ethics of the Economists’ Association of Catalonia and a member of the Commission on Anti-Corruption of the International Chamber of Commerce (Paris). He has published numerous books, book chapters and articles in prestigious journals on economics and business ethics. He has been editor of books and journals, member of ethics committees of business associations and financial institutions, and has held government positions at IESE Business School and with numerous scientific and professional bodies.

Participants

See here their biographies.

Event Programme

Two days, six panels, over 15 experts and a policy roundtable.

See here the event programme. 

Home Renaissance Foundation has carried out a study with the International Work and Family Centre of the IESE Business School, in order to find out how the work of the home influences the person, the family and their well-being at work.

Here are the conclusions and recommendations:

1. Phubbing threatens our mental health and family wellbeing

Press Release | Infographics

2. The work of the home is the new ally for achieving better levels of employee wellbeing

Press Release | Infographics

3. A positive attitude towards housework has a positive influence on parents’ relationship with their children

Press Release | Infographics

Academics involved:

Mireia Las Heras | Professor of Managing People in Organizations at IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain – where she serves as the Director of the International Center for Work and Family.

Yasif Rofcanin | Professor in Organizational Psychology and Human Resource Management at the University of Bath and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Organisation and HRM Division, Ph.D. in Organisational Behaviour and HRM at the University of Warwick -Warwick Business School.

Marc Grau | Professor and a Researcher at the Childcare and Family Policies Chair at Universitat International Catalunya and a WAPPP Research Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School.