Code of Conduct

Background

The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings were founded shortly after World War II with the aim of reenabling scientific exchange and collaboration after two devastating world wars. In this very spirit, the meetings have been bringing together the best scientists from all parts of the world since 1951, across nationalities, ethnicities, religions, genders, and whatever else may distinguish us. Peace and peacebuilding have been at the core of Lindau’s mission since the beginning, and the means to achieve this are exchange, communication and collaboration.

In the “Mainau Declaration on Nuclear Weapons”, initiated 1955 by Otto Hahn and fellow Laureates participating in the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, the meetings and their participants have also taken a clear stance towards belligerent actions, calling upon all nations to renounce force as final resort of their policy. This standpoint was renewed in the 2022 Declaration “Call for Peace”.

In addition, the Lindau Guidelines issued in 2020 provide clear guidance for scientists on how to conduct their work and research in order to contribute a maximum to the benefit of our global society. The ten goals of the guidelines include, among others: international collaboration, sharing of knowledge, transparency and truthfulness, as well as ethical values such as integrity and respect for life, the law and the public good.

Aim

The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, according to their leitmotif “Educate – Inspire – Connect”, aim at providing an environment for scientific exchange that considers mutual respect and peacefulness as natural behavior, and thus is free of harassment and aggression. All participants are required to acknowledge this code of conduct and act accordingly.

The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings ask all participants and involved persons to show mutual respect and peacefulness for each other. Aggression and harassment of participants in any form will not be tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to:

• verbal comments and non-verbal actions that are derogative or that reinforce social structures of domination related to nationality, ethnicity, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, age, religion, and comparable characteristics
• sexual language and images in public spaces (unless undoubtedly a necessary part of a scientific
  argument or research)
• unwelcome sexual attention
• deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following
• harassing photography or recording
• sustained disruption of talks or other events
• unsolicited advertising
• advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behaviours
• advocating for war, aggression, or use of force

Any participant violating these rules, before or during the meetings, may be excluded from participation in the meetings.

The Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings reserve the right to take any appropriate action to protect other participants and maintain a safe and agreeable environment. Decisions regarding the code of conduct are at the sole discretion of the meeting organisers.