Lugano, Switzerland - The Lugano Summer School of Systems Design at the University of Italian Switzerland in Lugano, Switzerland, announces a Young Researchers' Conference on "Business Ethics, Professional Ethics, and Ethics of Whole Systems." This international two-week event will take place at the University's Lugano campus in Southern Switzerland from 18 to 29 June, 2007, and is organized in cooperation with the Business Ethics Center of Corvinus University in Budapest, Hungary. The format of "Young Researchers Conferences" combines the broadness of inputs offered by a conference with the didactic guidance offered by a summer school.

Many leading edge ideas on ethical practice will be presented. The conference is particularly for those who feel that calls for ethical practice often lack clear theoretical and methodological foundations and are not translated into practical tools. Specialists will introduce and discuss theoretical and methodological approaches such as: discourse ethics; systemic ethics; critical pragmatism; the stakeholder framework; and deep ecology. Based on these foundations, the practical tools to be considered include: stakeholder management; corporate social responsibility; critical systems heuristics and ethical boundary critique; and personal and professional ethics. Some of these approaches are little known (e.g., systemic ethics) or new (e.g., critical pragmatism), and others will be presented in innovative ways (e.g., discourse ethics, the stakeholder framework, and total corporate responsibility).

All participants will receive a pre-conference reader, a post-conference book (to which they may but need not contribute a paper), and a certificate. An option to present and publish a paper is available.

The total workload of some 45 hours in two weeks will leave sufficient time to explore and enjoy the extraordinary beauty and Mediterranean way of life of the city and region of Lugano, which is situated in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland on the southern slopes of the Alps.

The event is open to mature students at the Masters or Ph.D. level as well as to practicing researchers or professionals in applied disciplines such as business and public sector management, information systems design, industrial and systems engineering, environmental design and management, operational research, consultancy, public policy analysis, social planning, evaluation research, and others. Admission is limited and requires formal application.

Application: through the Registration Form in the School web site
Application deadline: 31 January 2007
Tuition fee: EUR 1,750 (approximately USD 2,200)
Number of available places: 20-25

For complete information about the academic faculty and program, session topics and structure, workload, admission requirements, application, etc., please visit the School web site at http://www.lss.lu.unisi.ch. A printer-friendly flyer can be downloaded from the School web site. Inquiries: Email the School Director, Prof. Werner Ulrich, at lss@gmx.ch

Lugano Summer School of Systems Design

Lugano Summer School of Systems Design

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