at the service of Artisans worldwide with the goal of equipping them in their efforts
to rethink peace and propose new modes of action
The Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind (FPH)
An independent Foundation that supports the emergence of a global community
website : [a[http://www.fph.ch][ ]]
« To finance by awarding gifts or research grants where the funded actions contribute significantly and innovatively to the progress of Humankind via science and social development »: such are the statutory goals of the Foundation.
At the origin of the Foundation – a man, Charles Léopold Mayer (1881-1971) : French of Irish origin, Mayer was a chemist, financier, philosopher, researcher, and philanthropist all at the same time. His life was dedicated to finding ways to efficiently contribute to the progress of Humanity.
Following his death, his fortune, which he had successfully cultivated, was put at the service of the creation of the « Foundation for the Progress of Humankind », subsequently renamed, in 1996, « Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind », in tribute to the memory of its founder.
A foundation under Swiss law, the FPH adheres resolutely to a humanitarian philosophy. It has no political or religious bias. It is characterized by its complete liberty of action and its significant capacity of stability in its work : in fact, it functions thanks to the endowment bequeathed by its founder.
Several transversal dynamics characterize the undertakings of the FPH :
Firstly: the founding objectives and orientations
Established in 1982, the first objective of the « Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation for the Progress of Humankind » is to contribute to the long-term evolution of our society. In this way, it emphasizes the emergence of a global community for the construction of relationships in a world radically interdependent, where each element upholds the others – living creatures and objects. This global community should be capable of conceiving and conducting three major changes :
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A new conception of governance allowing the establishment of new social, political and institutional regulations - locally and globally - in order to manage society in regard to each one’s diversity, development, justice, peace, preparation of the future…
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Other modes of managing exchanges between societies, both between themselves as well as with their ecological environment, that articulate, in a coherent and just manner, three main conditions : that of cultures and lifestyles, that of the relative ways to respond to the material needs of all, to produce and exchange, that of the preservation of natural resources …
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Common ethical principals that bring together the two previous changes. The major differences of context and religious, philosophical tradition cannot justify differentiating this search from common ethical criterion for managing a common planet.
The Foundation favors the installation of a dynamic of a common elaboration of propositions : it does not satisfy itself to act as an actor of denunciation of evils that exist in today in humanity : in an act of co-responsibility, it supports ideas and proposals concerning these major changes.
Secondly: methods of action
Given that the drive of these three changes require new capacities for dialogue, exchange, expertise and collective proposition, new means of reconciling unity and diversity, of managing the complexity and interdependence of challenges, therefore, new methods of collective work, the Foundation supports these capacities and methods.
Thirdly: the alliances
Facing millions of people, movements, and organizations that invest themselves in the search for a more humane society, the Foundation acts as a relational instrument. It assists in favoring the relationships between different actors worldwide so that, in linking their actions and their creativities, they can discover and enrich one another. The Foundation supports bringing together each and everyone’s experience and know-how so that, by favoring the construction of a collective intelligence, actors can mobilize their knowledge and act in a more efficient manner for the progress of all Humankind.
The Foundation’s primary asset is the network it has woven in the far corners of the Planet : partnerships formed with more than 6,000 people or institutions. Their extensive diversity : country men and women, researchers, business leaders, journalists, monks, nuns, community activists, writers, engineers, civil servants, philosophers, fishermen, artists, et cetera, explains the multiplicity of partnership formations as well as the transversal dimension of the Foundation’s work.
Working in this framework of establishing links for the construction of a global civil society, the FPH has influenced the birth and support of the development of an « Alliance for a Responsible, United and Plural World ». The FPH has also financed the conference of the « World Citizens Assembly » in Lille in December 2001.
The FPH also promotes the establishment a cross-field collaboration of meetings and programs, proposes a standardized system of information exchange, supports capitalization of experience, and publishes, or co-publishes, written works and working papers.
Given the amplitude and complexity of the challenges to Humanity, the Foundation goes beyond assisting in doing things; it assists in bringing elements together to produce action.
In this way, the Foundation supports the emergence of civic alliances, new ways to come together at local, regional, and global scales, in order to elaborate, put into place, to think and to act together while respecting the autonomy of each participant.
2004-2010, Perspective in terms of the Foundation’s involvement in the construction of peace :
The Foundation’s involvement, from 2004-2010, in favor of peace took root via the actions and reflections conducted between 1992 and 2002, committing itself to the following new orientations :
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Governance : peace is at the heart of governance. From the construction of « live together » at the local level all the way to global governance ;
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An ethic of responsibility and the search for alternative models of development : a culture of peace, responsibility, and cooperation imposes itself in order to search for new economic models whereas the current models are more likely than not based on competition and war ;
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Methods of collective intelligence as well as civic alliances : peace will equally constitute one of the privileged points of the construction of civic alliances - with the development of an alliance of peacemakers - and the organized mobilization of knowledge - with the development of a website of resources for peace, Irenees.net.
Contacts :
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Director: Pierre Calame
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Address : 38, rue Saint Sabin, F 75011 Paris, France
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Phone number : 33 (0) 1 43147575. Fax: 33 (0) 1 43147599
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E-mail : paris@fph.fr