Volume 2 | Issue 2 | April 2010

I N T H I S I S S U E
Barcelona Symposium 1 Message from the Chairman 3
Sustainable Living Call for Papers 1 Executive Director Attends EU Public Hearing 3
Follow up - Ireland 2 New Friends: Javier Romero & Ina Wenz 3
Mothering Heights Conference 2 In the Media 4
SMART Expansion 2 Location, location, location 4

Upcoming Barcelona Symposium

  Programme:

H ome Renaissance Founda-

  Dr Marta Elvira tion will be hosting a sympo-

(IESE Business School, Madrid) sium at the IESE Business School
Quality of Life for the Elderly in Barcelona on May 26, 2010.
Three speakers will present their

  Dr Anna Záborská research on topics related to the

(Member of the European Parliament for Slovakia) work of the Foundation to a group
Beyond GDP: HRF Challenges EU Employment Policies of over twenty individually chosen
attendees.

  Dr Mireia de las Heras

(IESE Business School, Barcelona)
Human Ecology: Balance at Work, Inside and Outside the
Home
We look forward to what we are
sure will be an excellent event!
(Please see our website and the next issue
of the newsletter for more information)

Sustainable Living Conference 2011 - Call for Papers

How does work in the home influence social dynamics, legal frame-
works and ultimately entire social systems?

A sustainable society needs well-rounded people whose funda-

mental development depends on a competently managed home
with an awareness of sustainable practice.
At the Sustainable Living: Professional Approaches to Housework in-
ternational conference experts from a wide range of fields will study
the specific nature of housework and further our understanding of
the contribution it makes to social sustainability. The conference
seeks to provide a holistic understanding of the work of the home
and the individuals it serves through interdisciplinary research.

(To see the complete teaser brochure or our Call for Papers for the conference
please visit our website www.homerenaissancefoundation.org)

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 E V E N T S

Follow up - Ireland
They have formed a team that will work with
the Lismullin Hospitalty Services Centre to or-
ganise a conference where key ideas on the
value of homemaking and the impact it has on
the family unit and society will be presented.
A number of professionals, many of whom are
in the fields of sociology and psychology, have
already shown an interest in the conference.

Furthermore, the Lismullin Hospitality Ser-

S ince HRF’s visit to Ireland last November, a

group of people from different professions
have met to discuss how best to implement
the objectives of the Foundation in Ireland.
vices Centre have committed to spreading
awareness of HRF and transmitting the Foun-
dation’s aims both in their curriculum and
through events such as this conference.

Good news, We WON! H ome Renaissance Foundation is the proud

winner of a British Airways Business
Opportunity Grant which will allow the Foun-
dation to make up to twelve trips this year in
order to further its aims internationally.

We are also pleased to announce that HRF

has been awarded a Lottery Grant!

A fter the very well received course for

SMART Professionals, (with potential stu-
dents knocking at the door and asking for
another course) the SMART team will begin Plans for expansion
classes for young mothers in Oxford during
April. Demand for the SMART team is not limi-
ted to England, however. The team has even
received an invitation to give a crash course
in Kenya!
In response to all this demand, the team is
writing a manual that will help train others to
give SMART classes.

Mothering Heights
D r Anne Langslow discussed issues surrounding Work-Life balance on
behalf of HRF at a workshop during ‘Mothering Heights’, a conference
organised by Life Oxford. The organisers of the conference contacted
Conference HRF to ask whether we could provide a workshop leader with experience
in Work-Life balance for their conference. The conference took place on
March 20th and gathered over 100 participants.

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 P E O P L E
Message from the Chairman
T he new decade begins with a lot of activity in the Foundation and, I am
sure, many successes on the horizon. Planning for the next Excellen-
ce in the Home international conference, Sustainable Living – Professional
Approaches to Housework, is well underway and we have launched our first
Call for Papers with less than a year to go until the conference.
Looking back at the last few newsletters, one gets the feeling that we never
stop and that we keep doing more as time goes on. The more work we do,
the more people we meet and the more events we attend and organise, the
more motivated we become in spreading our vision. Thank you all for your
ongoing support. - Bryan Sanderson CBE

E xecutive Direc tor at tends

EU Public Hearing
H RF’s Executive Director, Mer-
cedes Jaureguibeitia, atten-
ded a Public Hearing entitled
‘Towards a New EU Strategy for
Gender Equality’ at the European
Parliament in Brussels. The hearing,
took place on January 28 and was
hosted by the Committee on Wom-
en’s Rights and Gender Equality, a
committee that deals with issues
regarding women, including work,
home and family.
The hearing enabled HRF to survey
general opinions and perceptions
surrounding these topics at a Eu-
ropean level. It also proved to be a
great opportunity to establish links
with people involved in European
policymaking. One of the speakers
giving a presentation in the up-
coming Barcelona symposium, Ma-
dame Záborská, is a MEP the Direc-
tor spoke to about HRF during the
hearing.
We would like to thank Ana Gon-
zalo, President of the Forum Euro-
péen des Femmes, for extending
an invitation to this public hearing
to HRF.

New Friends: Dr Romero was also interested in

Javier Romero ‘I have always been

establishing academic links be-
tween his university and the Foun-
and Ina Wenz.
inspired by the work dation.
involved in making the We are very grateful for such gene-
HRF recently met the Dean of the home a peaceful, organ- rous friends!
Faculty of The Health Sciences from ised and beautiful en-
the CEU University in Valencia, Dr Ja-
vier Romero, and his wife Ina Wenz.
vironment. As an artist,
This lovely couple, who are the I am also fascinated by
proud parents of thirteen children, the design and harmony
were thrilled when they heard about in homes.’
HRF’s vision.
When we met them, Ina told us:

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M E D I A & C O M M U N I C A T I O N S
“Thank you for sending me the information about your interesting
and admirable work. I do appreciate receiving the information as
this area of study has been my lifelong profession and belief. I am

What People
now retired and wish you well in what you are trying to achieve.”
(Professor Anne B Muir)

are Saying...
‘It is really great that Home Renaissance Foundation is doing this
work. There is a real need for it and if the projects it inspires, like
SMART Home Management, are anything to go by, it will achieve
a lot!’
(Danelia Cardona, Clinical Doctor)

In the Media
“A recent survey revealed that mothers between 18 and 34 consider homemaking to
be the lifestyle to aspire to as opposed to being a career woman.”
(A Generation of Women Bred to Work, featured in The Times Online)

“…the home can constitute every human being’s first social network and his first
source of humanisation, so long as the caregiving activities that strengthen it are
promoted. Doing things together, such as eating meals or carrying out physical tasks
(cooking, cleaning or decorating together etc.) constitutes a service to the individual
that cares for their physical, cultural and even spiritual well-being.”
(A Global Heart Transplant by Maria Pia Chirinos, featured in ACE Prensa)

Location, Location,Location.
It is all about communicating to the right audience in the right place
these days, and since we believe that the work of the home is a human
right for everyone, HRF is working hard to spread its message to as many
people as possible.
- You can follow HRF and get to know other people who are either
involved in the Foundation or who are interested in it through our
new LinkedIn group: Home Renaissance Foundation. You can also
show your support for our next international conference, Sustainable
Living – Professional Approaches to Housework, on LinkedIn by sign-
ning up to our event.
- www.homerenaissancefoundation.org – watch this space!
We will be launching our new website later this Spring.

Would you like to Contribute?

If you have seen an article related to the work of the home or would just like to send us a comment about what
you think about HRF, write to us at info@homerenaissancefoundation.org