*  *  Introduction  Welcome to the ECB for the Second Symposium of the ECB-CFS Research Network. As you may know, the word symposium was originally used to refer to a convivial discussion after a banquet or drinking party (among fellows who had gathered to “drink together” as denoted by the Greek noun sympotes).
But Plato’s philosophical dialogue entitled “Symposium” (written sometime after 385 BC) brought the meaning of the word closer to its contemporary use, since it involved a serious discussion on an important theme.