Prelims

Half Title Page

Applied Spirituality and Sustainable Development Policy

Title Page

Applied Spirituality and Sustainable Development Policy

Edited by

Naresh Singh

O.P. Jindal Global University, India

And

Divya Bhatnagar

Shiv Nadar University, India

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21-23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL

First edition 2024

Editorial matter and selection © 2024 Naresh Singh and Divya Bhatnagar.

Individual chapters © 2024 The authors.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83753-381-7 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83753-380-0 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83753-382-4 (Epub)

Dedication

To future generations who might live in self-realization and joy on a flourishing planet (Naresh).

To my parents and my brother (Divya).

List of Figures and Tables

About the Editors

Dr Naresh Singh is a Professor and Executive Dean at the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, where he is also Director of the Centre of Complexity Economics, Applied Spirituality and Public Policy (CEASP) and Co-Director of the Centre for Legal Empowerment of the Poor (CLEP). He is a visiting Professor, University of Ottawa, School of International Development and Global Studies. His current research focuses on insights for sustainable development public policy from systems thinking, consciousness studies and inner knowing.

He has served in several high-profile international positions such as

• Executive Director of the Global Commission on Legal Empowerment of the poor hosted by UNDP and co-chaired by Madeleine Albright and Hernando de Soto;

• Director General in the Policy Branch of the Canadian International Development Agency;

• Principal Adviser on Poverty and Sustainable Livelihoods at UNDP New York.

He has been an adviser to organizations such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Commonwealth Secretariat and the International Labour Organization (ILO). Professor Singh is recognized globally for his work on sustainable livelihoods. He has a transdisciplinary PhD in Environmental Sciences, has been a visiting Professor at several Universities in the US and Canada, including Boston, Harvard, Waterloo and McGill.

Divya Bhatnagar is an Assistant Professor at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, India. She completed her master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago, with an academic focus on international development. Divya works on education, childhood, sustainable development, and public policy including Indian education policies. She is interested in understanding early-life influences that shape our experiences, factors that affect mental well-being in adolescence, and characteristics of the right kind of education. Divya has previously worked on education, children’s rights, and child poverty at UNICEF, New York Headquarters. Before venturing into public policy, she worked in the field of Astrophysics at the University of Victoria, Canada.

About the Contributors

Dr Josep M. Coll is a professor of Strategy, Sustainability and Innovation at EADA Business School, visiting professor at Yonsei University in South Korea, and research associate at Maastricht School of Management. He works as an independent consultant for a wide range of private and public organizations, such as the European Commission and the United Nations. In the United Nations system, he co-led the first corporate developmental evaluation and adaptive management movement in UNFPA. As an initiate in Taoist metaphysics and Zen practitioner, he applies East Asian perennial philosophies into practical systems approaches and methods for regeneration. He regularly speaks internationally on systems leadership and sustainable transformation and coaches organizations, managers and entrepreneurs in transitioning to the new sustainable, regenerative and inclusive business paradigm. He is the author of several books on sustainability including ‘Buddhist and Taoist Systems Thinking’ (Routledge), ‘Zen Business’ (Profit editorial), Wise Cities (Cidob), and co-author of the book Economía de la Felicidad (The Economy of Happiness, Plataforma editorial).

Thomas Legrand holds a PhD in Economics. Thomas Legrand is the author of ‘Politics of Being. Wisdom and Science for a New Development Paradigm’ (Ocean of Wisdom Press, 2022). He is the lead Technical Advisor of the UNDP-convened Conscious Food Systems Alliance. He lives next to Plum Village, the monastery of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh, in the Southwest of France.

Dr K. Parameswaran is a Professor of Law and former Dean of Academics at Gujarat National Law University, India. He holds Bachelor's Degrees in Law, Administration, Masters' in International and Constitutional Law and PhD in International Law. He pioneered a law-subject ‘Law, Religion, Spirituality and Justice’ for legal research and profession. He teaches and conducts training programs on spirituality, higher values and ethics for law-teachers, PhD scholars, FDPs, students, advocates, judicial officers and professional corporates regularly. He brings spiritual and peace values in legal education and research, writes regularly on contemporary issues keeping Sri Aurobindo's integral consciousness-knowledge for individual and collective developments. He is associated with various law schools in the United States for higher research. He is also a Master Trainer in NLP, proficient in CBT and Integrated Clinical Hypnotherapy.

Dr Sudip Patra (PhD, University of Glasgow, Scotland) is an Associate Professor and Founding Member of CEASP, JSGP. Sudip is also Research Fellow at the Laszlo institute of new paradigm research, Italy. Sudip's research works lie in quantum-like framework in decision science, complexity economics and quantum foundations or philosophy of science broadly.

Vern Neufeld Redekop is a Professor Emeritus of Conflict Studies, Saint Paul University. Vern does research in deep-rooted conflict, reconciliation, spirituality, emergent creativity, integrative peace building and community dialogue. He is the former President of the Canadian Institute for Conflict Resolution and the author of From Violence to Blessing: How an Understanding of Deep-Rooted Conflict Can Open Paths to Reconciliation (2002) and co-editor, with Gloria Neufeld Redekop, of Awakening (2020) and Transforming (2021), both on Spirituality, Emergent Creativity and Reconciliation.

Dr David Rooney is a Professor of Management and Organisational Studies, Department of Marketing and Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University. His research focuses on understanding the role of wisdom and knowledge in the economy, work and leadership. He has published a number of books including Public Policy in Knowledge-Based Economies, the Handbook on the Knowledge Economy (Vols 1 & 2), Knowledge Policy and Wisdom and Management in the Knowledge Economy.

Dr Mihir Shah is a Distinguished Professor and Chair, Rural Management Programme at School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS), Shiv Nadar University. From 2009 to 2014, Dr Mihir Shah was Member of the Planning Commission, Government of India, holding the portfolios of Water Resources, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj. Dr Shah graduated in Economics from St Stephen's College, Delhi University (where he won the prestigious KC Nag Economics Prize) and did his postgraduation from the Delhi School of Economics (where he was Merit Scholar) in the 1970s, before going on to complete a much-acclaimed doctoral dissertation at the Centre for Development Studies, Kerala.

Dr Pooja Sharma is an Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Daulat Ram College, University of Delhi. An alumnus of Miranda House, University of Delhi; she completed her Master's in Economics from Delhi School of Economics, MPhil and PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and PhD fellow at the University of Agder (Norway). As an avid Gandhian, her contribution varies in the field of Energy security, Energy transition, Renewable energy, Human Capital and Gandhian perspective on energy transition. She is also engaged in CEC UGC live lecture series on Environmental Economics, Climate change and Sustainability. She has published papers in reputed journals. She has contributed two books on Gandhian thoughts, ‘Through the Lens of Mahatma: Journey of a Migrant’ and ‘Living in Truth: The Gandhian Paradigm’.

Dr Anneloes Smitsman (PhD, LLM), is a futurist, systems scientist, award-winning pioneer in human development and systems change, and award-winning bestselling author. She is the Founder and CEO of EARTHwise Centre, architect of the EARTHwise Constitution for a Planetary Civilization, and a Strategic Steward of Hypha and SEEDS. Her programs, practices and strategies are sought after around the world for actualizing our future human potential, and catalyzing the next steps in human consciousness and systemic design for thrivability. She is the co-author of the award-winning bestsellers of The Future Humans Trilogy with Dr Jean Houston. She was awarded the Visioneers Lifetime Achievement Award as a Visionary Leader in May 2022, and was crowned overall African winner in the category ‘Human Development’ of the 2022 Africa's Most Respected CEOs Awards by The Business Executive in collaboration with the Economic Development Board Mauritius. She is also a winner of the BIZZ 2022 Business Excellence Award by WORLDCOB. She holds a Master's degree in Law and Judicial Political Sciences from Leiden University, the Netherlands, and received a degree of Doctor from the Maastricht Sustainability Institute at the School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Her PhD dissertation, Into the Heart of Systems Change, is being implemented worldwide for systemic transformation in economics, education, politics and governance through her proposed Transition Plan for a Thrivable Civilization.

Robertson Work is an ecosystems/justice activist and non-fiction author. He has worked for over 50 years in over 50 countries as United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) principal policy advisor for decentralized governance; New York University (NYU) Wagner Graduate School of Public Service adjunct Professor for innovative leadership of sustainable development; and Executive Director of the Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA) in four countries conducting organizational, community and leadership development initiatives. He has published five books, including A Compassionate Civilization and Society, Spirit, Self, and contributed to 11 others. Work has practiced engaged Buddhism for the past 36 years. His graduate studies were at Indiana University and Chicago Theological Seminary with undergraduate studies at Oklahoma State University.

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support and encouragement of a wide circle of friends and colleagues from our Centre for Complexity Economics, Applied Spirituality and Public Policy, our students in the course of the same name whose needs for diverse relevant readings in one place provided the main incentive for this work. As editors we acknowledge the congenial, friendly and professional engagement with the chapter authors throughout the writing and editing process. We are indebted to Dr Nick Lee of the Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities who independently read most of the chapters and provided invaluable feedback.