"Do Banks Have a Heart?"

"Do Banks Have a Heart?"

The book "Do Banks Have a Heart?" book was published in May 2015 and analyzes the recent problems that have affected banking, namely the ethical level. It presents the results o...

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    10 backers

  • 30/10/2015

    Expired on

  • Not funded

    This project was unable to raise the required funds

The book "Do Banks Have a Heart?" book was published in May 2015 and analyzes the recent problems that have affected banking, namely the ethical level. It presents the results of a survey done in June 2014 to the Portuguese population about their expectations regarding the banking sector, but above all, this book provides information about new financial streams that are already gaining momentum internationally, such as ethical banking, socially responsible funds and Islamic banking. It also p...

This project is seeking for finance to pay for the English translation of a book edited in Portuguese, and for its adaptation into an electronic book, so that it can be bought in a digital format by the non-portuguese speakers. The book is about the new types of banks and the new type of ethical finance that is growing in the world. The book is called "Do Banks Have a Heart?" 

As an economist whose first job was at Merrill Lynch in London in 1997, in the Research Department, I was impressed and disappointed at same type with that that instituion. On the one hand the information available to develop research was immense and of very high quality (I still think this was by best work experience ever), and on the other, we were ignoring completely the effects that the financial markets had on the real economy. At the time, this detachment from the real economy and from the people, did not make sense for me since I could not believe that would could be sustainable over time. About 12 years later this unsustainable path was confirmed. During the last 18 years, between other things, I've done research on banking and its relationship with the real economy, ie job creation and welfare. Over the years I realized that there is a new type of banking that is growing: banks that have social and environmental concerns about the impact that the money they lend can have.

 In 2012 I published my first book about "The Portuguese Banking and the Green Economy" and in 2015 in the aftermath of an ethical crisis in the banking sector, I wrote the book " Do Banks have a Heart?". This book presents data from a survey made to Portuguese population in July 2014, which concluded that the Portuguese are looking for an ethical bank. A bank whose main objective is to contribute to the economic, environmental and social development of the country, and not just profit maximization. The book also presents the new trends that are emerging across the world, such as ethical banking, Islamic banking and social responsible investment funds. This book makes the case that it is necessary to renew the banking ecosystem and promote the emergence of new forms of banking where moral and ethical values are linked with the impact of money. It also argues that it is necessary to teach economics and management in different way, by putting the theories of humanistic management and ethics in the center of the decision making process.

About the author

Sofia Santos, is an Economist, 40 years old with 17 years of career experience in London and Lisbon. She began her career in 1997 in the research department of the investment bank Merrill Lynch in London, and took the decision to return to Portugal at the end of 1999. In Portugal, she worked in NGOs (INDE), news agencies (Reuters and Bloomberg), and at the National Statistics Institute. In 2001, she became a staff member at the Pulp and Paper Industry Association, where she began to become acquainted with the issues relating to sustainability in the forestry and in the pulp and paper industry. In 2004, she co-founded Sustentare Lda and the Impactus magazine. From 2004 to 2011, she helped towards establishing Sustentare as a boutique consultancy company in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility consulting in Portugal. During this period, she developed work related with the implementation of sustainability strategies, sustainability reporting and training in several Portuguese companies (Banks, Real Estate, Construction, Retail, Pulp and Paper, etc).

In March 2013, she co-founded Systemic Sphere, a research and consultancy in the areas of the green economy, environmental and social risk analysis, scenario planning and corporate social responsibility.

In 2013 she founded an NGO called K-Evolution, where the "K" means "Knowledge". This NGO aims to empower a new generation of leaders in Portugal with skills and interdisciplinary knowledge about sustainability, citizenship and entrepreneurship. As President of the NGO, Sofia Santos implements projects in schools, develops applications in order to raise funds and interacts with a set of partners in order to promote education for sustainable development.

From 2009 to 2014 she was visiting assistant professor at the ISCTE /INDEG, Portugal, lecturing “Ethics and Sustainability” for the Master of Science in Business Administration (MScBA) and Energy MBA. From September 2013 to January 2015, she was theExecutive Director of the Sustainability Knowledge Lab at the INDEG – IUL ISCTE Executive Education.

She has written 2 books about banking and its relationship with sustainable development and ethics, and she is finalising her third book, this time about “Green Economy”, which will be published in late 2015.

Budget and due dates

Portuguese translation for English: 2250 euros
Design for e-book format: 450 euros
Offers / Rewards: 500 euros
Deliveries by mail: 100 euros
Video: 400 euros
Once the required value is reached, the translation will take approximately one month and a half, so that by the end of 2015 the book will be available in English in various platforms of digital books.

  • Invest with
    20€ or more

    Acknowledgment

    A thanks at the end of the book, with the inclusion of the name in a specific area for this acknowledgment.

    3 backers

  • Invest with
    50€ or more

    One book in the Portuguese version

    Offer of 1 copy of the book in Portuguese (by mail with postage included for Portugal), with autograph and a bookmark

    3 backers

  • Invest with
    100€ or more

    A Lunch

    Offer of 1 lunch in biology or organic food restaurant in Lisbon with the author.

    No backers yet. Be the first one!

  • Invest with
    500€ or more

    1 Workshop

    A workshop of 2 hours about "Banking and the Future"

    1 backer

  • Invest with
    1000€ or more

    1 day of training (8h)

    I day of training about: New challenges of banking - Ethics, Social and Environmental Risks

    No backers yet. Be the first one!

Fri, 29/03/2024 - 05:23

30/10/2015

Campaign ended

The campaign failed to raise the total amount

Campaign launched

24/09/2015

10 members of the PPL community
support this campaign

  • 8
    new backers

  • 2
    recurrent backers

  • 6
    anonymous backers

Meet the people helping this dream come true

  • Anonymous

    19/10/2015 - 09:12

  • Anonymous

    14/10/2015 - 11:42

  • Sérgio Gonçalves do Cabo

    12/10/2015 - 09:24

    Uma pequena ajuda. Espero que consiga atingir o objectivo de publicar o livro em inglês.

  • Anonymous

    08/10/2015 - 15:23

  • Charles Buchanan

    02/10/2015 - 13:35

    Trying to contribute to a good purpose

  • Anonymous

    26/09/2015 - 10:43

  • José Poças Esteves

    25/09/2015 - 18:12

  • Anonymous

    25/09/2015 - 15:00

    Votos de concretização do objetivo! Parabéns pela ideia.

  • Mário Parra da Silva

    25/09/2015 - 12:23

    Cara Sofia, com muito gosto!

  • Anonymous

    24/09/2015 - 20:44