Blog Beppe Robiati

Dearest Friends,

Sunday February 18th was the last day of a meeting organized by EBBF at the Centre for Baha’i Studies of Acuto, which witnessed the gathering of students from the faculty of economy of different italian universities. These students have been invited by the National Headquarters of AIESEC which, for the fourth time has asked EBBF to organise this event.

Fifty students and young managers from fourteen different universities participated in this ” full immersion ” course which aimed at imparting the Bahai vision to these future administrators; a Bahai vision which made clear that managers can succeed if they collaborate with the development of an ever-advancing society, and – as the Universal House of Justice says- ” by allowing people and institutions to build the new foundations of a new social order which cultivates the limitless potentials which are latent in human conscience “.

Both Bahai and non-Bahai tutors, aligned with the Bahai vision (after having finished the Ruhi sequence of courses), have accompanied all participants in this wonderful journey towards this vision. Mr. Arthur Dahl, Mr. Saba Mazza, Mrs. Mehry Sefidvash, Mrs. Sandra Luschi, Mr. Enrico Giraudi, Ms. Denise Cumella, Mr. Alessio Brusemini , Mr. Cesare Fera  and Beppe Robiati presented themes like environmental sustainability, ethical management of human resources to be considered as spiritual gems, the management of energy, a new international ethical conscience, the view that an organization is about people’s spiritual growth, the ‘know-how’ of communication innovation towards new models, the concept of leadership as an example of change and transformation towards a new sense of awareness. Quoting Baha’u'llah,  ” Indeed in the estimation of men of wisdom keenness of understanding is due to keenness of  spiritual vision “ allowed the participants to immerse themselves in an athmosphere of love and spirituality.
 
The program was a roller coaster of morning music, readings from spiritual writings, games, questions and artistic sessions organized in an excellent way by Mr. Naim Abid and Mr. Francesco Cappellaro. All of this created a spiritual athmosphere of learning and deep love which stressed the importance of the innovative vision of the Blessed Beauty.

The figure of Baha’u'llah, introduced at the opening of the conference and mentioned throughout all the readings, was the pivotal point of the meeting. The questions that were raised by the AIESEC participants during the dinner and lunch breaks to the Bahai friends that were attending were all answered by devoted Bahai friends. I would like to thank Nima, Saba, Nicola, Francesco, Naim, Rahim, Samare’ and Thomas for their help, devotion to the Cause and for the fantastic job they did in involving this mass of students in the themes of our Faith. The evening of Saturday was an evening where the participants expressed what they had learnt through music, poetry and art . A film crew which was present has recorded a video throughout the event.

Thanks to the vision of Baha’u'llah, to the inspiration of His Writings and to the concretness of His teachings, these students have been encouraged to align themselves with this vision and make it part of their lives.

Beppe Robiati.

1.- Surrounded by the spectacular scenery of blue sea and green nature, last Wednesday 8th of June saw the closing ceremony of the academic year of the University of Economics of Naples.
A conference centre built in the highest part of the island of Capri, with around 100 students of economics, guests of a program that included a greeting by the mayor of Capri, a welcome address by the Dean of this large university of Napoli Parthenope, Professor Gennaro Ferrara.
EBBF was a guest speaker with an intervention of some 45 minutes in the central part of the program on the topic “The individual : a prime asset for a company”. The name of Baha’u'llah rang over and over again in this conference centre together with a number of quotations from His Writings, on a topic where Bahai’s have a lot to share, touched the hearts and minds of those present.At the end of the talk, during the buffet lunch, on a marvellous terrace under a porch lined with purple glicine and a spectacular 180 degree view of the sea, of the gulf and islands of Naples, a student approaches me with a slight foreign accent but in perfect Italian asking me “excuse me, during your talk I hear a number of times a name, but I would like to be sure that I understood it correctly” So I reply “tell me yourself what was that name?” and she replies “Baha’u'llah?”.
“Exactly” I reply “I mentioned the name of Baha’u'llah, where EBBF obtains its core philosophy from”. And she says “I am an Iranian student, I graduated in languages at Teheran University and have been studying for the last two years economics at the University of Naples, and I never knew that Baha’u'llah wrote so many interesting things. Are you Baha’i?” and I reply “yes I am a Baha’i”. She then adds “but back in Persia people do not know that Baha’u'llah wrote so many interesting things as you said today” and I replied “they do, they do know, and that is why Baha’is are persecuted” ….

2.-  On Friday 6th May the national conference 2005 of AIESEC took place, this organisation links the students of economics in Italian universities who have a desire to deepen their knowledge and involvement in topics such as Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainable Development and so on 
This year’s national conference was atttended by 150 students  in their last two years of university courses attending the faculty of economics in 22 universita’ spread all over Italy and it was held in a beautiful grand hotel near Rome.EBBF is the main partner of AIESEC Italia so it had the honour of being the keynote for pretty much the entire duration of the day-long event, with three plenary sessions reflecting themes that are dear to the baha’is :  ” Towards a New World Order “,  “Spiritual handling of human resources : human being as a mine of precious gems ” ” the responsibility of business in the development of the planet ” .
With certainty the Baha’i vision of development, of the way in which business should be handled, of the individual as an essentially spiritual being, the need to insert spiritual values in their handling of life and, in the field of economics, introducing new ethical values.
All of those topics plus more conquered these young souls with the extraordinary vision of the principles of Baha’u'llah.

3.- In Italy, thanks to the many doors that have opened, and thanks to a core group of tightly knit friends, we were able to enter working relationships with Universities, Companies and Training Institutes.One of the latter Institutes is IFOA in Reggio Emilia (Italy) a training institute owned by the Italian Chambers of Commerce and the Government Department of Education, that has asked us to officially work with them in a post graduate MBA covering the area of Ethics in the management of Human Resources. So now 23 young managers (15 women and 8 men) will focus on this subject during the course of the year.
EBBF was awarded the entire philosophical – spiritual topic on ethics. A subject that the Writings of Baha’u'llah developed excellently with great richness of texts.

Since 1992, Giuseppe Robiati begun to approach some italian universities, mainly the faculties of economics, also using as a channel the baha’i inspired association, namely EBBF – European Baha’i Business Forum, of which G. Robiati is a member of the governing board.  Today, the activities are constant and systematic and in the academic year 2005-2006 the following activities have been carried out: 

BARI UNIVERSITY

 1- Bari University  ( South Italy ) – In this university, Giuseppe Robiati, representing EBBF, has been holding lectures in the second semester of the academic year from March to June at the faculty of economics for ten years. The course’s title is: Ethics and Economy: Towards a New World Order. It consists in 6 lectures of about 2-3 hours each. The number of students vary between 100 and 150 students, who by attending the course gain credits for their university marks. The topics addressed in this course relate to the World Order of Baha’u’llah, the ethical and spiritual management of human resources, ethics and justice in business, the need of spirituality in the financial and economic field, etc.  Baha’u’llah is introduced since the first lecture openly and in a very natural way, and His history, His life, His imprisonment, His sufferings and His numerous Writings concerning many topics are openly presented. His Name is often been written in big letters on the blackboard, attracting the attention of many students. Quotations from the Writings of Baha’u’llah are used in the presentations and lectures, and at the end of the class, although very unusual for Italian universities, all the students clap enthusiastically their hands as a sign of respect and gratitude for the message given to them. Their comments are always very positive and most of them are very interested to the topic of the New World Order. Although it is not a course where the Baha’i Faith is taught as a subject per se the students have the opportunity to relate to the source of the information and lectures given. There is also Giuseppe Robiati’s website (www.bepperobiati.it)  that has been prepared for this purpose and approved by the Italian National Assembly, in which there are numerous pages on Baha’u’llah, on the Faith, books, articles, various topics, etc which is being used a lot by the students who visit the website regularly and download many documents. The website is both in English and Italian and in the Italian section, there are numerous comments written by the students. In the web site, Italian part,  I have put also the   video where all the presentations have been filmed alive at the university  by a professional TV operator – This has been done following a suggestion of  Mr Hooper  Dunbar. This university course has become regular and systematic and is renewed by the university every year. Some baha’is from the community of  

Bari attends at times the lectures, but due to the lack of baha’i youth in the community , there are no relations between the students and the baha’i community.

REGGIO EMILIA UNIVERSITY

2 – University of Reggio Emilia (near Bologna) Giuseppe Robiati, as EBBF member, has been called to partecipate in lecturing a post-university Master about ethical managment of human resources. Also in this course, attended by between 12 to 18 graduate students, the topics addressed are similar to the Bari University, and they aim to give the students a world vision of development, a deep explanation of human resources as being essentially spiritual, and therefore a presentation of the teachings of Baha’u’llah and their influence on the spiritual growth of those people who will consequently work, behave and use ethical, spiritual principles in their work and company, thus introducing spirituality in business.The Figure of Baha’u’llah is introduced and presented openly, and due to the smaller number of students, more interaction has been positive and fruitful.This course in Reggio Emilia has been held for the past three years, and hopefully will become an annual project for the future years. 

3 – Other Universities:

In Italy, as well as in other parts of the world, there is an international economy students association called AIESEC, which aims to organise for the students of economy, trainings and experiences to lead them in gaining a wider world vision and in working towards its betterment and excellence.

Giuseppe Robiati, through patience and constancy, has managed with time, to enter in relation and communication with AIESEC, by being a member of EBBF. He held conferences and workshops, therefore entering the national association of AIESEC, and becoming later on a member of the advisory board of the Italian national AIESEC. This activity has given the opportunity to be invited at the National AIESEC conferences and meetings, therefore by networking with different universities and offering the blessing to bring the message of Baha’u’llah about the World Order and this new vision to all these students, association and universities where these students come from. At each national AIESEC conference, various universities invite Giuseppe Robiati to hold some lectures and classes in their universities or in other meetings and conferences.In the past, any university offer would have been accepted, but in this past year a new understanding developed whereby invitations of universities would be accepted only if they are based near a youth baha’i community, in order to be able to put in contact the students with the students bahai’ youth. For instance, at a conference in the University of Catania (Sicily)

Catania  had been informed and participated in a great number, therefore creating a good channel and new relations.This coming year 2006-2007 activities have been already organised and planned at the universities of Naples, Perugia and Milan, where good communities of baha’ì youth reside.
  

 4 – Acuto Project

Robiati Giuseppe (Beppe)            

ACUTO