Showing posts with label sweden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sweden. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

3,000 trees will be planted in Africa for the Swedish edition of Muhammad Yunus' new book 'Building Social Business'

We are happy to announce on our latest collaboration with the Swedish publisher BookHouse Editions. We have the privilege of collaborating on a special book of a special author - 3,000 trees will be planted to balance out the Swedish edition of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus' latest book: 'Building Social Business: The New Kind of Capitalism That Serves Humanity's Most Pressing Needs'.

The Swedish edition of 'Building Social Business' (In Swedish it is 'Socialt företagande') is released today by BookHouse Editions and can be purchased on their website. 3,000 trees will be planted with Eco-Libris in Malawi, Africa by our planting partner, RIPPLE Africa, on behalf of the publisher to balance out this edition. Inside the book you can also find our logo and details on our vision and operations.

This is the second book of Prof. Yunus we're collaborating on with BookHouse Editions. In 2008 we balanced out the Swedish edition of his book 'Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism'.

What's the book about? (from the Yunus Centre's website):
This third book by Professor Yunus, following Banker to the Poor and Creating a World Without Poverty, is dedicated solely towards the concept of social business, its implementation, and its maintenance. Social business is an innovative business model which promotes the idea of doing business in order to address a social problem, and not to maximize profit. As the title suggests, this complement to traditional capitalism truly can serve humanity’s most pressing needs, especially poverty. Each and every social business creates employment, good working conditions, and of course, addresses a specific social ill such as lack of education, healthcare, and good nutrition.

In simple terms, a social business is a non-loss, non-dividend company dedicated entirely to achieve a social goal. In social business, the investor gets his investment money back over time, but never receives dividend beyond that amount. The Grameen Bank is a prime example of social business, with the Grameen borrowers themselves being its shareholders!

Building Social Business
consists of case studies, anecdotes, and solid advice from Professor Yunus himself. This “Social Business Manual” is a must read for anyone who wants to use his or her creativity to make a positive impact in their neighborhood, town, country, and world.

About the author (from the Nobel Prize website): Professor Muhammad Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983, fueled by the belief that credit is a fundamental human right. His objective was to help poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them and by teaching them a few sound financial principles so they could help themselves.

From Dr. Yunus' personal loan of small amounts of money to destitute basketweavers in Bangladesh in the mid-70s, the Grameen Bank has advanced to the forefront of a burgeoning world movement toward eradicating poverty through microlending. Replicas of the Grameen Bank model operate in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Born in 1940 in the seaport city of Chittagong, Professor Yunus studied at Dhaka University in Bangladesh, then received a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt in 1969 and the following year became an assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University. Returning to Bangladesh, Yunus headed the economics department at Chittagong University.

From 1993 to 1995, Professor Yunus was a member of the International Advisory Group for the Fourth World Conference on Women, a post to which he was appointed by the UN secretary general. He has served on the Global Commission of Women's Health, the Advisory Council for Sustainable Economic Development and the UN Expert Group on Women and Finance.

This is a very interesting book on a fascinating subject that is relevant more than ever - the social business model and its potential to harness the entrepreneurial spirit to address poverty, hunger, and disease. Certainly worth reading, and if you can't read Swedish, you can check out the English version of the book published by Public Affairs.

In this video you can see Muhammad Yunus talking with Tina Brown of the Daily Beast about his book:



Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Monday, April 27, 2009

A new book in Swedish about social entrepreneurship is going green with Eco-Libris!

We're happy to announce on a new collaboration with the Swedish publisher, Bookhouse Publishing, to plant trees for their new book with the great title “Making money and saving the world” (or in Swedish - "Tjäna pengar och rädda världen") by Erika Augustinsson and Maja Brisvall.

The new book deals with social entrepreneurship and presents examples, mainly Swedish, but also from other countries (Grameen Bank for example), and discusses the future of this form of business and it’s role in today’s economy.

It joins two other wonderful books we worked with Bookhouse Publishing on to plant trees for the printed copies - the Swedish edition of "'Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism'" by Prof. Muhammad Yunus and the Swedish edition of "Getting to Scale" by Jill Bamburg.

More than 1,000 trees will be planted with Eco-Libris in Malawi, Africa by our planting partner, RIPPLE Africa, on behalf of BookHouse Publishing to balance out this edition. Inside the book you can find Eco-Libris' logo ('one tree planted for this book') with details on our vision and operations.


The book is in Swedish, so if you're speaking (and reading) the language you can check Bookhouse publishing's website for further details at www.bookhouse.se/main/index.asp. The rest of us will wait impatiently to the English translation :)

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
www.ecolibris.net

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Muhammad Yunus is launching his new book in Sweden

Muhammad Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, came to Sweden for a launch event of the Swedish edition of his new book 'Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism'.

As I mentioned here earlier, More than 5,000 trees will be planted with Eco-Libris in Malawi, Africa by our planting partner, RIPPLE Africa, on behalf of BookHouse Publishing to balance out this edition. Inside the book you can find our logo ('one tree planted for this book') with details on our vision and operations.

You can see below Prof. Yunus at the event that took place on April 19th and together with the Swedish Publisher Jan Lapidoth .


Foto: Mattias Gregor Ridung
























Foto: Mattias Gregor Ridung





















If you want to learn more about Prof. Yunus' vision and work, you are welcome to watch an interview that was made with him on the Swedish TV4 (the video clip below is part 1. For part 2, you can click later on
HERE)



Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

Friday, April 18, 2008

Eco-Libris is balancing out the Swedish edition of Muhammad Yunus' new book

We love all the books we balance out like parents that love all their children equally. But this time, not only that we love the book, but we're also honored to balance it out. Muhammad Yunus is a role model to all of us at Eco-Libris, and therefore we're very proud to announce that Eco-Libris is balancing out the Swedish edition of his book 'Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism'.

This is the latest book from the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, and it is now being published in Swedish by BookHouse Publishing. Professor Yunus himself will attend the launching in Stockholm on April 19th where he will discuss the future of social business. More than 5,000 trees will be planted with Eco-Libris in Malawi, Africa by our planting partner, RIPPLE Africa, on behalf of BookHouse Publishing to balance out this edition. Inside the book you can find our logo ('one tree planted for this book') with details on our vision and operations.

What's the book about? (from Grameen Bank's website):

What if you could harness the power of the free market to solve the problems of poverty, hunger, and inequality? To some, it sounds impossible. But Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is doing exactly that. As founder of Grameen Bank, Yunus pioneered microcredit, the innovative banking program that provides poor people––mainly women––with small loans they use to launch businesses and lift their families out of poverty. In the past thirty years, microcredit has spread to every continent and benefited over 100 million families. But Yunus remained unsatisfied. Much more could be done, he believed, if the dynamics of capitalism could be applied to humanity’s greatest challenges.

Now, in Creating a World Without Poverty, Yunus goes beyond microcredit to pioneer the idea of social business––a completely new way to use the creative vibrancy of business to tackle social problems from poverty and pollution to inadequate health care and lack of education. This book describes how Yunus––in partnership with some of the world’s most visionary business leaders––has launched the world’s first purposely designed social businesses. From collaborating with Danone to produce affordable, nutritious yogurt for malnourished children in Bangladesh to building eyecare hospitals that will save thousands of poor people from blindness, Creating a World Without Poverty offers a glimpse of the amazing

future Yunus forecasts for a planet transformed by thousands of social businesses. Yunus’s “Next Big Idea” offers a pioneering model for nothing less than a new, more humane form of capitalism.

About the author (from the Nobel Prize website): Professor Muhammad Yunus established the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh in 1983, fueled by the belief that credit is a fundamental human right. His objective was to help poor people escape from poverty by providing loans on terms suitable to them and by teaching them a few sound financial principles so they could help themselves.

From Dr. Yunus' personal loan of small amounts of money to destitute basketweavers in Bangladesh in the mid-70s, the Grameen Bank has advanced to the forefront of a burgeoning world movement toward eradicating poverty through microlending. Replicas of the Grameen Bank model operate in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Born in 1940 in the seaport city of Chittagong, Professor Yunus studied at Dhaka University in Bangladesh, then received a Fulbright scholarship to study economics at Vanderbilt University. He received his Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt in 1969 and the following year became an assistant professor of economics at Middle Tennessee State University. Returning to Bangladesh, Yunus headed the economics department at Chittagong University.

From 1993 to 1995, Professor Yunus was a member of the International Advisory Group for the Fourth World Conference on Women, a post to which he was appointed by the UN secretary general. He has served on the Global Commission of Women's Health, the Advisory Council for Sustainable Economic Development and the UN Expert Group on Women and Finance.

It is a great book of a truly great person who inspire so many people to take a stand and make a difference, after he himself made a difference by helping to lift millions of families around the world out of poverty. Definitely worth reading, and if you can't read Swedish, you can check out the English version of the book (published by Public Affairs - www.publicaffairsbooks.com).


Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Thursday, December 6, 2007

An interview with Jack Guest, creator of the film 'A Convenient Truth'


















About two weeks ago I wrote here about a new film about the world getting better - 'A Convenient Truth'. I saw the trailer, read about the film on its website and was very intrigued with the film and its creator, Jack Guest.

I decided I should learn more about the film and Guest, and asked Guest for an interview. He agreed and I am happy to bring you my interview with Jack - the guy who brings us a movie that is both a green and a personal journey to a better future.

Can you please tell us what the movie is about? How does it relate to 'An Inconvenient Truth'?

The film's about the possibility that things can get better. An Inconvenient Truth showed us in no uncertain terms that we face a huge problem on planet earth. A Convenient Truth looks at turning that problem into an opportunity, showing that we can make things work, for everybody.

Is the final movie similar to what you had in mind when you started this journey?

Only a little. Once we started filming it took on a life of its own, it's a very organic process. At first I wanted to jump straight from amateur filmmaker to Oscar-winning professional, without realising that I didn't have the skills to do that. If I'd realised how much work goes into making a film I'd probably never have started.

Why did you choose to go to Sweden from all places?

I was doing lots of local green politics at the start of 2006 when Sweden announced plans to break their dependence on oil by 2020. This was a big declaration at the time. The scale of climate change wasn't widely acknowledged then as it is now, so it was a bold, forward-looking and exciting decision, and I wanted to know more.

What was the most important green lesson you learned during the work on the film?

That consistency and constancy of action is more important than grand gestures.

Is there really a convenient truth? Do you believe the Swedish solutions can be applied to other countries with different ways of thinking, like the U.S. for example?

Yes. The cornerstone of the Swedish solutions was collaboration and action. It's this spirit, rather than the specifics of solutions (which will always change from location to location), that can and needs to be applied to other countries.

The people I met were inspirational in that they saw very clearly that there was a big problem, were in no doubt as to the importance of doing something about it, and so just got on and did something. No big fuss or argument.

Their 2006 oil commission report, for example, saw politicians, civil service, business, citizens and the media all working together, communicating and collaborating to get the job done.

Many people claim that no matter what we, the people, do it has no real influence, and only governments, policies and regulation can make a difference - what are your thoughts about this claim?

For me it's a personal issue. There will always be voices on the sidelines, arguing, heckling, seeking to undermine the good work being done. My question is this, am I doing what I need to do about this issue? Am I doing the best that I know how? And will I look back and be satisfied that I played my part, whatever the eventual outcome is. If I can answer yes then I know I am contributing, no matter what anyone else says or does.

Did you manage to keep the work on the film environmental-friendly?

Yup, we're a super low carbon film. I don't know how low, but very, very low. Certainly the best that we knew how. Most of our work has been done digitally, we travelled efficiently.

What are your plans concerning the distribution of the film? will it be available online? any plans to participate in film festivals?

We're in talks with one distributor at the moment, and it's too early to say anything more. Releasing the feature length preview (95 minutes) online has worked very well. I think the main film will be more suited to a traditional style release, although there are some exciting self-distribution options opening up, like Brave New Cinemas as a way for people to organise screenings of new films for themselves all around the world.

The organic nature of the production so far has meant we haven't done any forward-planned applications to film festivals and given the ACT NOW message, I don't want to wait many months to get a good slot. We'll see.

Why did you choose to start with a 95-minute preview? what is the difference between the preview and the movie itself?

To get the film rolling, show people what we saw in Sweden, and help fund the main release next year.

The preview film is a little rough around the edges and focuses on the Swedish people and projects that we visited. Although split into five parts it remains a film in itself, produced on a low budget by a great team of collaborators. Someone said watching it is like having a nice massage.

The main movie has been produced on a bigger budget, with a more experienced team and is aimed at a wider audience. It's less about the specific Swedish solutions and more about my journey to the country, making the film, and then continuing across the Atlantic by cargo ship. It's a lot more personal.

Any advice to people who will want to follow your steps and make their own independent films on green issues? would you say that with all the hardship and budget difficulties it was worthwhile?

Absolutely. Hardship and difficulties were the only way to learn what to do better next time. My advice is go for it.

What are your plans for the future? any new project in the horizon?

I'm doing a course in Shiatsu massage and oriental therapy to learn about practical hands-on healing. There is another film on the horizon too, it's a continuation of the journey really, about going to meet some smart people to ask if it's our inner lives that are heating up the planet.

Did you receive a phone call from Al Gore yet?

No. He's a busy man. Maybe once we've built his 200 foot gold statue he'll visit.

Thank you Jack! I am going to watch the preview this weekend and I invite all of you to check it out. The 95-minute preview splits into five parts, between 5 and 30 minutes each. Each part costs about $0.75 (or £1) and
you get 200 credits to watch one part for free.

And there's the trailer, if you want to get a glimpse of the movie:




Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris