Seminar series launched to collate and share philanthropy research

Research into European philanthropy is abundant, and yet that information is not always widely available to professionals in the field, according to the European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP).

To address the gap between the research output and knowledge available to practitioners, ERNOP is launching a monthly series of online seminars in which researchers and academics will present their findings and address related research. Participants will be invited to ask questions and contribute to the discussion.

Barry Hoolwerf, executive director at ERNOP, says:

“This age is characterised by unprecedented challenges. The global pandemic, climate change, migration, polarisation and the rise of artificial intelligence requires every societal actor, including philanthropy, to do better, more, or different.

“An important source for innovation and growth comes from research and development. Members of ERNOP produce the best of research on philanthropy within the continent, but only limited output makes it to the board rooms, decision tables and policies of philanthropic and voluntary organisations. The gap between production and usage of academic knowledge is a waste of valuable resources. With the ERNOP Science and Society Seminars, ERNOP takes the initiative to start building that bridge.”

Covering a broad range of philanthropy-related topics, this will include seminars on impact investing, to engaging with family businesses and the media perceptions of philanthropy.

The first seminar, ‘Sustaining Voluntary Energy’, will be presented by Professor Lucas Meys from the Department of Business-Society Management at the Rotterdam School of Management on 23 March 2021.

Representatives from EFA, DAFNE, EFC, and the Centre for European Volunteering will also participate in the seminar programme.

Hoolwerf adds:

“I am very pleased that EFC, Dafne, EFA and CEV are endorsing the series and hope that other philanthropy networks will hop on the boat as well.”

For more information and a complete overview of the series and links to relevant research, see ERNOP’s seminar webpage.

Image credit: Photo by J. Kelly Brito on Unsplash