Pari Dialogues on Religion and Science

Pari Center for New Learning
Pari, Grosetto

The Pari Dialogues are hosted by the Pari Center for New Learning (http://www.paricenter.com). Created in 2000 as a free-standing academy, the Pari Center organizes conferences, courses, conferences, research programs as well as having an active program of international visitors. The Pari Dialogues are jointly coordinated by David Peat and Shantina Augusto Sabbadini and involve public lectures, round table discussions and international conferences. The audience for public lectures is drawn from laypeople and academics in the surrounding area as well as from Siena, Pisa, Grosseto, and Florence. 2006 saw an international conference held in Siena on Ethical choices in Economics, society and the Environment, jointly organized by the Pari Center and the Siena-based association EFA. This was followed by a daylong round table in Pari where it was decided to create the Pari Network (http://www.parinetwork.org) with the aim of transforming ideas and proposals into practical programs and actions. The Pari Dialogues became a third-time winner of the Local Societies Initiative Supplemental Prize in 2006 and activities will be expanded to include: continuation of lecture series; outreach program to create “Pari Lectures on Religion and Science” in centers and universities of Siena and Florence; research in framing the “fundamental questions” in religion and science; broadband link to enable teleconferencing with other groups; hosting a national meeting at Pari; annual publication of a book of commissioned essays; pursuit of additional funding for international conference on “Fundamental Questions”; development of free downloadable Work Books in Science and Mathematics for students in the developing world. Matching funds are provided by the Pari Center and private donations. The Pari Dialogues was awarded a LSI Supplemental Grant Prizes in 2003, 2004, and 2006.