Dignity at Work Conference
Dignity at Work Conference
天美传媒 Barcelona 鈥� March 19-20, 2026
Work is the primary site where persons seek recognition, belonging, and a share in the common world. Yet contemporary arrangements -algorithmic oversight, the contractualization of vocation, and the commodification of time, among other factors- may erode the very structures which should uphold the dignity of people and their work. We convene this conference to explore the conditions under which work may be an expression of the person鈥檚 dignity, a practice of competence and care, and a pathway into citizenship.
Our purpose is to articulate a rigorous, interdisciplinary vocabulary for dignity at work; to diagnose how visibility, time, and vocation are being reshaped in digital and precarious regimes without lapsing into nostalgia or techno philia; to surface affirmative models -craft, cooperation, and care- that present dignity as learned practice; and to translate these insights into an actionable research and institutional agenda for leaders and policymakers, specifying design principles for organizations in which recognition and participation are constitutive.
Join us to engage in profound dialogue and explore practical solutions to create workplaces fostering the dignity of people and their work.
With the support of:
FOUNDATIONS AND FRACTURES
“Human Dignity in a Fragmented World: Europe in the Global Geopolitical Competition”
In an era of intensifying geopolitical competition, values lie at the core of an unprecedented reshuffling. This keynote examines Europe鈥檚 positioning in the global arena through the lens of its founding constitutional principle: the protection of human dignity since the aftermath of the Second World War.
“The Dignity of Work: A Relational View鈥�听
Conceptual inquiry into the nature of work as human activity and the dignity of work in the face of the new technological era听听
“The Loss of Vocation: From Calling to Contract in Modern Workplaces”听
The economic and moral shift from vocation to employment:
– The transformation of calling in secular modernity
– How bureaucracy and specialization undermine purpose in work
– Restoring meaning: Can modern organizations reclaim the idea of vocation?听
鈥淢eaning, Joy, and the Silent Pride of Competence鈥�听
An interdisciplinary conversation on the intrinsic satisfactions of doing something well:
– Craft, attention, and moral formation
– The quiet dignity of excellence without expected recognition
– Deep practice听
鈥淲ork and leisure: Leisure, Rest, and the Right to Be Unproductive鈥�听
Debating the moral and political significance of rest:
– Leisure as the precondition for reflection and freedom
– The commodification of time and its ethical consequences
– Toward a post-productivist understanding of dignity听
REIMAGINING WORK FOR A DIGNIFIED FUTURE
鈥淐ommunity, Encounter and Belonging鈥�听
Revisiting work as the foundation of community and belonging:
– Labor as participation in the civic order
– Unorthodox trajectories
– Rethinking economic value beyond productivity
– Public-private collaboration
鈥淭he gift economy鈥�听
Envisioning alternative models of work grounded in reciprocity and education:
– Work as an act of care for others and the world
– The dignity of unseen work听
鈥淎I and Human Flourishing鈥�听
How dignity may be honored in the age of AI:
– Algorithmic management and meaningful work
– Surveillance and trust in the workplace
– AI and skill development
– The gig worker听
鈥淔rom the Dignity of Work to the Work of Dignity鈥� 听
Reimagining how societies work.听
Derek Byrne听has worked in the humanities and social care sector for the past thirteen years, with a particular focus on supporting young people. His professional experience spans several areas including addiction services, residential childcare, and aftercare provision. He holds an academic background in Social Care, Psychodynamic Theory, and Project Management, which informs his practice and leadership approach.
Derek is the Co鈥慒ounder and Chief Executive Officer of Way 2 Work Ireland ( ), a non鈥憄rofit organisation established in 2019 to foster ambition, opportunity, and professional development among young people with care experience. The organisation is specifically designed to support training, skills development, and employment pathways across all sectors of the Irish labour market.
In addition to his work in the non鈥憄rofit sector, Derek is the Service Director of Purpose Recruitment ( ), a recruitment agency he founded in 2023. In this role, he oversees service delivery and strategic development, with a commitment to creating inclusive and meaningful employment opportunities.
Director of Data and Artificial Intelligence with 15 years of experience in the design and implementationof data strategies, as well as in the management of advanced analytics projects and the creation ofbusiness value through the use of data.
Advisor on Innovation, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence.
Ricard is currently Director for People & Culture at ISS Iberia. He has more than 35 years of experience in the service industry, having founded a contract cleaning company in Barcelona, in 1987.听This company was eventually acquired by ISS in 1999. Since then, Ricard has been a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of ISS Iberia.
Prior to this, Ricard worked as Research Officer at the Centre for Labour Economics of The London School of Economics and Political Science. Ricard holds B.Sc. (Econ) and M.Sc. (Econ) degrees from The London School of Economics and Political Science. He is married and has three children and two grandchildren.
Mario Di Ciommo (1979) holds a PhD in European Constitutional Law and has over twenty years of experience in public affairs and policy analysis. His research focuses on European and international political and institutional issues. He is the author of several articles published in Italian and European academic journals, as well as two books: one on human dignity in post-war European constitutionalism (2009) and another on the challenges of European integration (2020). After working in think tanks and research centers, in 2009 he joined a major European banking group, holding public affairs and regulatory roles in Rome and Brussels.
In 2016, he joined Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, where he initially served as Head of Institutional Relations with the European Union.
Since 2023, he has been Head of the Analysis and Geopolitical Scenarios Department.
El camino de Xavier Costa en las Organizaciones ha sido, y sigue siendo, el de liderar Procesos de Transformaci贸n desde la conciencia y poniendo a las personas en el centro.
Es co-Fundador del fondo de Impacto creado para adquirir empresas en situaci贸n de crisis, transformarlas hacia un nuevo paradigma Teal, con autogesti贸n, un prop贸sito evolutivo y trabajando para la plenitud de las personas.
Es Co-Fundador de FULL CIRCLE desde d贸nde desarrollan Procesos de Transformaci贸n Organizacional. Su firme prop贸sito: mejorar el mundo a trav茅s de las organizaciones.
Quiere contribuir a construir un mundo mejor, m谩s justo con las personas y el planeta, eliminar la pobreza y crear organizaciones sanas, sostenibles, conscientes, en las que las personas puedan sentirse plenas.
Trabaja para sembrar y preparar el entorno para que las nuevas generaciones puedan trabajar desde otro lugar mejor y aumentar la prosperidad del planeta.
N煤ria Dan茅s
Director of Social Inclusion 鈥渓a Caixa Foundation鈥�
Doctor en Filosof铆a, estudia en las universidades de Navarra y M眉nster (Alemania). Publica textos y ensayos sobre est茅tica y teor铆a de las artes, filosof铆a de la cultura y sobre artistas modernos y contempor谩neos. Adem谩s, traduce al espa帽ol textos de Martin Heidegger, Franz Marc, Walker Percy, Peter Sloterdijk, Boris Groys o Paul Klee. Entre 1995 y 2005 es director de tres sedes europeas del Instituto Cervantes: Bremen, Lisboa y N谩poles. Desde enero de 2006 es director de Museos y Exposiciones de la Fundaci贸n Juan March y director del Museo de Arte Abstracto Espa帽ol (Cuenca). Ha dirigido y en algunos casos comisariado m谩s de un centenar de exposiciones. En 2016 fue Clark fellow del The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute en Williamstown, Massachusetts.
R. J. Snell
Director of Academic Programs and Editor in-chief of Public Discourse, Witherspoon Institute, Princeton
She holds a PhD in Philosophy from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome (2021), with the thesis 鈥淭he Universal Common Good in St. Thomas Aquinas.鈥�
She was Professor of Business Economics in the Master鈥檚 in Management program at CLSBE (2017鈥�2019). She also taught Microeconomics, Business Economics, Philosophy, and Economics in the Master鈥檚 in Psychology, Economics and Business at CLSBE (2016鈥�2018).
She is currently Professor of Human Factors in Organizations and Microeconomics at AESE Business School, where she is also responsible for the Chair of Business and Society Ethics at AESE/EDP.
Areas of interest
- Metaphysical foundations of political theories
- Ethics, theory of action, and Thomistic metaphysics
- Economics, psychology, and freedom
Daniel Ortiz
Managing Director, CIRE, Generalitat de Catalunya
March, 19, 2026
FOUNDATIONS AND FRACTURES
9:00: Welcome Coffee & Registration
9:30: Opening Remarks听
- Prof. Mireia Las Heras
- Prof. Carlos Rodr铆guez-Lluesma
09:45: Keynote Session
Human Dignity in a Fragmented World: Europe in the Geopolitical Competition
In an era of intensifying geopolitical competition, values lie at the core of an unprecedented reshuffling. This keynote examines Europe鈥檚 positioning in the global arena through the lens of its founding constitutional principle: the protection of human dignity since the aftermath of the Second World War.
- Mario di Ciommo
10:30: Coffee Break
11:00 Colloquium
“The Loss of Vocation: From Calling to Contract in Modern Workplaces”
The economic and moral shift from vocation to employment:
– The transformation of calling in secular modernity
– How bureaucracy and specialization undermine purpose in work
– Restoring meaning: Can modern organizations reclaim the idea of vocation?
- Sir Martin Donelly
- Lord Stephen Green
- Moderator: Prof. Carlos Rodr铆guez-Lluesma
12:15: Panel
Meaning, Joy, and the Silent Pride of Competence
An interdisciplinary conversation on the intrinsic satisfactions of doing something well:
– Craft, attention, and moral formation
– The quiet dignity of excellence without recognition
– Deep practice
- Manuel Font谩n del Junco
- Cristina Iglesias
- Moderator: Prof. Santiago 脕lvarez de Mon
13:30: Lunch
14:45: Panel
Work and leisure: Leisure, Rest, and the Right to Be Unproductive
Debating the moral and political significance of rest:
– Leisure as the precondition for reflection and freedom
– The commodification of time and its ethical consequences
– Toward a post-productivist understanding of dignity
- Jos茅 Mar铆a Alvarez-Pallete
- R. J. Snell
- Moderator: Prof. Santiago 脕lvarez de Mon
16:00: Break
16:30: Leading with and for Dignity
– Architectures of voice and participation
– Respectful leadership practices
– Subsidiarity and solidarity
- Ricardo Casas
- Xavier Costa
- Moderator: Prof. Mireia Las Heras
17:45: Keynote
The Dignity of Work: A Relational View
Conceptual inquiry into the nature of work as human activity and the dignity of work in the face of the new technological era
- D. Giulio Maspero
- Prof. Carlos Rodr铆guez-Lluesma & Prof. Mireia las Heras
18:30 Day 1 Closing Remarks
March, 20, 2026
REIMAGINING WORK FOR A DIGNIFIED FUTURE
8:30: Welcome Coffee
9:00: Colloquium
Community, Encounter and Belonging听
Revisiting work as the foundation of community and belonging:
– Labor as participation in the civic order
– Unorthodox trajectories
– Rethinking economic value beyond productivity
- Derek Byrne
Public-Private Collaboration:
– Successful pathways to social inclusion
– How to bring them to our organizations
- N煤ria Dan茅s
- Daniel Ortiz
- Moderator: Carlos Rodr铆guez-Lluesma
10:15: Panel
Gift, Care and the Common Good
Envisioning alternative models of work grounded in reciprocity and education:
– Work as an act of care for others and the world
– The dignity of unseen work
- Kirstie McAllum
- Marta Lince-Faria
- Moderator: Prof. Mireia Las Heras
11:15 Coffee Break
11:30 Panel
AI and Human Flourishing
How dignity may be honored in the age of AI:
– Algorithmic management and meaningful work
– Surveillance and trust in the workplace
– AI and skill development
– The gig worker
- Pablo Garc铆a Ruiz
- Melanie Calero
- Moderator: Prof. Carlos Rodr铆guez-Lluesma
12:45 Keynote session
Being and Thriving Together: Ontological Relations and the Future of Work
- Ilaria Vigorelli
- Prof. Carlos Rodr铆guez-Lluesma & Prof. Mireia Las Heras
13:30 Closing Remarks
Synthesis of Themes and Concluding Statement:
From the dignity of labor to the labor of dignity 鈥� reimagining how societies work
- Prof. Mireia Las Heras
- Prof. Carlos Rodr铆guez-Lluesma
13: 45 Appetizer
Academic Co-Director
Mireia Las Heras
Professor
Managing People in Organizations
Academic Co-Director
Carlos Rodr铆guez-Lluesma
Professor
Managing People in Organizations
Maria Puig
Director of "Dignity, Diversity and Belonging" Office, 天美传媒
Denise Clerc
Faculty Assistant Manager, 天美传媒
Esther Ribes
Events Manager, 天美传媒 Research Events Unit
With the support of:
Location
The Dignity at Work Conference will take place on the Barcelona North Campus of 天美传媒.
C/Arn煤s i Gar铆, 3-7
08034 Barcelona
+34 93 253 42 00
Accomodation
天美传媒 is a dynamic community of scholars and practitioners who will welcome you to Barcelona, a traditional and welcoming Mediterranean city. It is a city with a great number of tourist attractions and a friendly atmosphere that will offer conference participants and their families plenty of opportunities to enjoy their stay here, over and above the academic program we are preparing for you. Accommodations options near 天美传媒:
Contact Information
天美传媒
conferences@iese.edu
Tel.: +34 932 53 42 00