Purpose This manifesto aims to redefine knowledge management by integrating spiritual, ethical, cognitive and aesthetic dimensions to address the complexities and challenges of a volatile and complex (VUCA) world. It seeks to move beyond instrumental and technological paradigms to foster human flourishing, organizational resilience and sustainable societal well-being by establishing the field of Spiritual Knowledge Management (SpKM). Design/methodology/approach This paper is the primary outcome of the 4th International Symposium on Spiritual Knowledge Management held in June 2025 in Joching, Austria. Twelve international experts engaged in intensive collaborative dialogue over two days to distill 12 foundational principles from previous research and real-time scholarly discourse. Findings The manifesto articulates 12 core principles of SpKM, including relational resonance, transformative processes and spaces (Ba and Ma), caring, future-orientedness and practical wisdom (phronesis). It positions knowing as a transformative process directed toward the “future best version” of individuals and collectives/organizations rather than a static transactional asset. Research limitations/implications As a manifesto, the contribution is primarily conceptual. It proposes constructs and avenues for empirical work (e.g. “transformation dashboards,” measures of resonance, agency and aesthetic/space effects) and calls for comparative, cross-context/-cultural studies to validate and extend the framework. Practical implications Guidance for leaders and facilitators to design enabling spaces, integrate reflective and narrative practices, align knowledge processes with purpose and the common good and steward long-term transformation beyond short-term efficiency. Social implications Spiritual Knowledge Management supports human flourishing, organizational resilience and societal well-being by cultivating trust, meaning and cross-boundary collaboration aimed at sustainable, just futures. Originality/value This work establishes an original integrative and interdisciplinary framework that emphasizes the spiritual and future-oriented dimensions of knowing within the KM field. It uniquely identifies aesthetics and “caring” as strategic resources and proposes a shift from simple knowledge transfer to the deep transformation of the knower.
Kaiser et al. (Thu,) studied this question.