It is my pleasure and honour to welcome you to our 6^th International Conference on Globalisation for the Common Good, taking place this year at Fatih University in beautiful and inspirational Istanbul, the city of understanding and dialogue between East and West. No other city in the world straddles two continents (Europe and Asia) and has been capital of two great empires (Byzantine and Ottoman). I am sure being in Turkey (Confluence of Civilisations) and in Istanbul will greatly enhance our debate and discussions on the timely theme and topic of our conference.

In these global and too often troubled times, we need new perspectives and models so that we can find humane answers to the challenge of globalisation, based on a profound respect for the diversity of cultures and religions in our world community. As global events demonstrate, there is a desperate need to reintroduce spirituality, ethics, morality, faith and common sense into the debate on globalisation.

Looking at the conference programme, without doubt and hesitation, we can see that our accomplished speakers have risen well to this challenge. The conference is truly privileged to have speakers of the highest calibre, sharing your views with us all. Without you there would have been no conference, but with you, we hope we can travel together to heal the troubled and torn cultures of our time and pave the way to global justice, peace, prosperity and harmony for all.

I wish to express the conference’s respect and sincere gratitude to each of our presenters for their extraordinary commitment in being a part of this vital effort. Each one of you brings a missing and essential piece that completes the process, leading to a better understanding of what globalisation is all about. Hopefully, together, we can clearly argue for and insist on social and economic alternatives that address the roots of global injustice and inhumanity, leading to Globalisation for the Common Good.

I am also grateful to and thank all the conference delegates who have come from near and far to be with us. It is wonderful for academics and non-academics to get involved and engaged with one another, so that we can all share each other’s varied experiences.

I am grateful to and thank the Local Organising Committee (LOC) in Istanbul. Space alone has kept me from naming all of them. They have given their time, expertise and know-how as volunteers to Globalisation for the Common Good. I thank them all most sincerely.

I am however, particularly grateful to my co-convenor for this year Conference, Dr. Sammas Salur. Sammas has been a tower of support in organising the conference. Thank you Sammas for all you have done.

I wish also to thank my friend and comrade for the common good, Cemal Usak. Cemal has been an instrumental force in bringing the conference to Istanbul, and his organisation, Intercultural Dialogue Platform, has greatly assisted the conference.

I wish to extend my sincere thanks to Fatih University for hosting the 2007 conference and for all their generous support, sponsorship and encouragements. In particular I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Oguz Borat, the Rector, and Dr. Alparslan Acikgence, the Vice-Rector and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

I would also wish to thank insieme tours, and in particular, Zekihan Kiziloglu, for all their hard work in looking after us.

In 2006, during our conference in Hawaii, our own journal, Journal of Globalization for the Common Good was launched. This, I believe, has been a great achievement for our movement. I wish to give a special thanks to the Co-Founder/Editor, Prof. Yahya Kamalipour, Head, department of Communication, Purdue University, Calumet, USA. Through this, as well as other journals that Yahya has founded, many people around the world are having access to educational materials that they would have been denied otherwise.

Finally, this week, all of us, experienced and newcomers, young and old, students and teachers together will form a community, committed to exploring and debating visions and ideas for celebrating diversity, appreciating uniqueness, enabling us to transform disagreements into understanding and mutual respect.

In addition to plenary sessions and workshops, there will be opportunities for informal spontaneous meetings and dialogue between participants all through the week. This, we sincerely hope will result in invaluable collaborative learning experiences and networking as well as rich personal interactions. Please try to participate also in the cultural and social activities to cement further the newly formed friendships. I hope you will take full advantage of all these activities.

In conclusion, we invite you to share a common belief in the potential of each one of us to become self-directed, empowered, and active in defining this time in the world as opportunity for positive change and healing and for the true formation of a culture of peace by giving thanks, spreading joy, sharing love, seeing miracles, discovering goodness, embracing kindness, practicing patience, teaching tolerance, encouraging laughter, celebrating diversity, showing compassion, turning from hatred, practicing forgiveness, peacefully resolving conflicts, communicating non-violently, choosing happiness and enjoying life.

Kamran Mofid