New Economy & Society Seminar
Launched in 2019, under the framework of Aspen Institute Romania’s New Economy and Society Program, the Seminar relies upon the classic Aspen Method of moderated, Socratic dialogue, exploring the leadership and values questions which bear on economic opportunity. Under the guidance of skilled Aspen moderators, each edition of the seminar challenges 20 – 25 participants, multiple stakeholders of the New Economy and Society Program’s community (including public decision-makers), to think more critically and deeply about the good society and to have an informal, constructive debate on topics of relevance to the respective policy program.
The themes of the Seminar include the relationship between economics, politics, and the common good (especially in the quest for a new economic model of growth and shared prosperity), the ethical dimensions of market-based economies, the prospect of a new social contract with a focus on greater equity, the roles of government and of individual initiative (especially innovation and entrepreneurship), and resilience and the texture of human relationships in a changing economy.
By engaging in extended inquiry and dialogue with accomplished peers, leaders in the industry will have an important opportunity to reflect on how to make both effective and wise decisions at this inflection point of political, economic, and social-cultural policy. Participants will leave the Seminar with a greater clarity about their own belief systems, greater understanding of the complexities of the moral-technical challenges we face, and firmer confidence in being able to engage in creative decision-making at the crossroads of economics, finance, and a good society.
The seminar is developed in partnership with the Aspen Institute US – Executive Leadership Seminars and is conducted in English. Each edition of the seminar is organized in a picturesque location, which invites to introspection and reflection, away from the noise of the big cities. The New Economy & Society Seminar is a custom leadership seminar, organized at the intersection between the Aspen Leadership Programs and the Aspen Public Policy Programs of the Aspen Institute Romania and being financed under the Aspen New Economy and Society Program.
The 6th edition of the seminar will be organized in 2024. Participation to the seminar is by invitation only. For details regarding the participation fee or for other information, please contact Ms. Ioana Antonescu, Leadership Programs Senior Manager, at ioana.antonescu@aspeninstitute.ro and Ms. Oana Dumitru, Leadership Programs Officer, at oana.dumitru@aspeninstitute.ro. Please find below details about the editions of the Aspen New Economy & Society Custom Leadership Seminar organized by the Aspen Institute Romania between 2019 and 2023.
5th edition (in-person): May 17 – 20, 2023
- Location: Comana, Giurgiu County (Romania)
- Moderators: Dr. Roxana Voicu-Dorobanțu, Aspen Fellow 2008, Associate Professor in the Bucharest University of Economic Studies in Bucharest and Mr. Andrei Pogonaru, Aspen Fellow 2009, Founding Partner of the Central European Financial Services (CEFS).
- 20 participants: leaders from the public, private, academic, and non-governmental sectors, with background in finance, banking, insurance, capital markets and entrepreneurship – now part of the Aspen Alumni community.
4th edition (in-person): November 9 – 12, 2022
- Location: Comana, Giurgiu County (Romania)
- Moderators: Dr. Roxana Voicu-Dorobanțu, Aspen Fellow 2008, Associate Professor in the Bucharest University of Economic Studies in Bucharest and Mr. Andrei Pogonaru, Aspen Fellow 2009, Founding Partner of the Central European Financial Services (CEFS).
- 19 participants: leaders from the public, private, academic, and non-governmental sectors, with background in finance, banking, insurance, capital markets and entrepreneurship – now part of the Aspen Alumni community.
3rd edition (online): April 27-29, 2021
- Moderators: Dr. Todd Breyfogle, Managing Director of Executive Leadership Seminars for the Aspen Institute US and Florin Ilie, Aspen Institute Romania Member.
- 14 participants: leaders from the public, private, academic, and non-governmental sectors, with background in finance, banking, insurance, capital markets and entrepreneurship – now part of the Aspen Alumni community.
2nd edition (online): November 16 – 19, 2020
- 19 participants: leaders from the public, private, academic, and non-governmental sectors, with background in finance, banking, insurance, and capital markets – now part of the Aspen Alumni community.
- Moderators: Dr. Todd Breyfogle, Managing Director of Executive Leadership Seminars at Aspen Institute US, and Florin Ilie, Aspen Institute Romania Member and Deputy CEO & Head of Wholesale Banking at ING Romania.
1st edition (in-person): September 19-22, 2019
- Location: Fundățica, Brașov County (Romania)
- 13 participants to the seminar, who became part of the Aspen Alumni community.
- Moderator: David Blázquez, Chief of Staff to Madrid’s Region Minister for the Economy and Labor.