About EuroCharity Yearbooks

The idea of launching the first EuroCharity Yearbook came when Greece faced an environmental and social crisis of unprecedented dimensions, just when the company was 18 months old. Starting towards the end of June and ending in early September 2007, horrific wildfires and forest fires killed innocent people, completely burnt or wounded millions of animals, destroyed hundreds of thousands acres of (often completely virgin) forests, agricultural land, nature reserves, rich flora and fauna, and wiped out the livelihoods and properties of thousands of people. One of the biggest ecological crises the nation had seen since the restoration of its democracy created an uproar in society and made headline news in the international media.

During the summer of 2007, EuroCharity's founders were surrounded by huge wildfire flames in different areas of the Peloponnese (Michael Spanos in Messinia and Arcadia and Peter Michel Heilmann in the Corinth and Ileia prefectures), where some of the most horrendous forest fires had broken out. In addition, at the end of June, Peter witnessed the Mont Parnes (Parnitha) forest fires breaking out while riding his bicycle on the very same evening of a major social responsibility awards ceremony in which EuroCharity was involved as communication sponsor. EuroCharity's founders and ambassadors also participated in peaceful demonstrations on Syntagma (Constitution) Square in central Athens, following the massive, concerted efforts by Greece's citizen sector to mobilise people before Parliament. Furthermore, EuroCharity was pro-actively involved in continuously updating its stakeholders and portal visitors on the ongoing efforts by the corporate world, the citizen sector and the Greek state, calling them to take immediate and decisive action.

EuroCharity seized the opportunity to publish an album about this crisis, "EuroCharity Yearbook 2007 - The Spirit of the Forest". It laid particular emphasis on the response and positive actions of the corporate world. The idea was to create  aneducational tool that would kick-start a dialogue and attempt to sensitise stakeholders in Greece on this crucial matter that has made such a dramatic impact on society and Greece's natural heritage. EuroCharity also wanted to create a platform for political, corporate, citizen-sector, and religious leaders as well as scientists and experts to share their views on this complex issue, while at the same time offering a "communication vehicle" for selected corporations -- including EuroCharity's members -- to showcase their own voluntary initiatives and corporate responsibility actions during and after the disastrous fires.

The EuroCharity Yearbook 2007 was warmly welcomed by the corporate world, the citizen sector, the media, and EuroCharity's members as well as a number of important people who contributed to this unique publication with special messages, including former Ministers, members of Parliament, the President of the Republic of Cyprus, former European Commissioner for the Environment Stavros Dimas (who himself hails from a fire-stricken prefecture, Corinth), a number of prefects of some of the fire-stricken areas in the Peloponnese, the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople Barthelomew II, the Ambassador of the United States of America to Greece, the Chief of the Hellenic Fire Department, and many other guest authors who wrote messages or articles.

The EuroCharity Yearbook has since become an annual edition. It is not sold through bookstores, but is distributed free of charge by the companies that are featured in the album (e.g. to their employees, management team, suppliers, customers, the media, investors, analysts, local authorities, and other stakeholders) as well as by EuroCharity (e.g. to all those who have written in the book, to all its members, selected educational institutions, libraries, members of parliament, ministers, ambassadors and embassies, chambers of commerce, industry bodies, policy formers, EuroCharity's partners, and other stakeholders as well as directly to the delegates, speakers, exhibitors, and visitors of selected conferences, exhibitions, roundtable discussions, and events in which EuroCharity actively participates).

To date, EuroCharity has released the following three albums in Greek with the assistance of Athens-based Livanis Publishing Organisation S.A., Greece's leading publicly-listed book publisher, which has been responsible for the editing, printing, and binding of (as well as delivery to the headquarters of the featured companies mentioned in) each book:

"EuroCharity Yearbook 2007 - The Spirit of the Forest - The response of the corporate world to the catastrophic fires of 2007" (published in June 2008, with dramatic photos by the Associated Press - AP)
The album was presented at the University of Indianapolis Cultural Centre (Goulandris-Horn Foundation) in Plaka, central Athens and attended by EuroCharity's members, numerous corporate leaders, the media, contributing authors and academics as well as Greece's Deputy Minister of Development, the Ambassador of the United States of America to Greece, and the Mayor of "Sugar Town" (Zacharo), which of all Greek fire-stricken towns and villages experienced the biggest number of civilian losses. The book presentation was moderated by Katerina Christofylidou, SKAI TV's anchor of the daily "Eco News" newscast.

"Last night, had a nice drink by the hotel pool with Peter Michel Heilmann (President) and Michael Spanos (Managing Partner) of EuroCharity, to discuss the conference, their work and possible joint projects. They gave me copies of the EuroCharity Yearbooks for 2007 and 2008, the first of which features a beautiful -- but dreadful -- image on its cover, of a statue that survived the devastating fires that swept across Greece in 2007. Arson was at the root of many of the fires, spurred by a desire to develop -- though anyone who looks at the Greek landscape today and knows what it was like in classical times must wonder what these particular Greeks imagine anyone will come to see in the future. Logging, goats and fires have put paid to much of what made the country liveable in the pre-oil (and air-conditioning) era." -- John Elkington's journal ("CSR 2.0 in Athens - Somewhere between Operation Mincemeat and Globish", June 11, 2010)

"EuroCharity Yearbook 2008 - Prassein Elloga - Sustainability & Green Development - Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation" (published in June 2009, with a brief English description of each AP photo)
The album was presented in a celebrative spirit at the Athens Ledra Marriott Hotel and was attended by EuroCharity's corporate and non-corporate members, numerous CEOs and senior executives of companies that were showcased in the publication, contributing authors and scientists, journalists, publishers as well as the Ambassador of Japan to Greece, among many other delegates. The book presentation was moderated by the Editor-in-Chief of the "Real Planet" newspaper supplement.

"EuroCharity Yearbook 2009 - It's a matter of culture" focusing on the importance of corporate culture (published in June 2010)
The album was presented at the historic Old Parliament Building in central Athens and was attended by EuroCharity's members,  partners, friends, and stakeholders as well as special guests, contributing authors and academics, media representatives as well as CEOs and senior executives of companies that were  featured in the annual publication. The book presentation was moderated by Fotis Kourmousis, Chairman of the Union of Environmental Scientists of Greece and currently adviser to the Hellenic Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change. Among the guest authors who participated in a panel discussion during the event were attorney-at-law Yanos Gramatidis, President of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce, Konstantinos Lambrinopoulos, President of the Hellenic Management Association (EEDE), and others.













"EuroCharity Yearbook 2010 - The Future of Responsible Investing" (published in June 2011)
Following three consecutive years of publishing success, EuroCharity published its fourth album entitled "EuroCharity Yearbook 2010 - The Future of Responsible Investing". The 4th EuroCharity Yearbook aims at:

• highlighting the growing importance of sustainable and responsible investing world-wide;
• publishing corporate profiles, CEO messages, success stories, case studies and best practices of leading sustainability-driven companies;
• informing key stakeholders from around the world on the latest trends, research, indices and intelligence related to the future of responsible investing;
• publishing messages and viewpoints of top experts, decision-makers, policy formers, investors, CEOs, analysts as well as a Nobel Peace Laureate regarding this highly-important and challenging subject.

Should you wish to receive copies of EuroCharity Yearbook 2010, please find here the order form.

Leading financial institutions world-wide are positioning themselves for a greening of global markets, says UNEP FI's Head Paul Clements-Hunt in a contribution to the recently-published EuroCharity Yearbook 2010. "Globally, public policy is changing in response to a new set of fundamental trends, such as shifting demographics, a deeper appreciation of the finite nature of our resources and a growing understanding of the impact of pollution and other externalities on communities, ecosystems and human health," writes Clements-Hunt. "Sustainable finance is a response to these mega trends as the banking, insurance and investment community begin to respond by integrating a larger range of material risks that may impact their businesses and investments, but also by exploring the new commercial and investment opportunities that are arising," he says.

Other testimonials

• "Thank you for the book which we received last week. I have been passing it around our staff. Very extensive and quite attractive to read. Congratulations on a job well done." -- Walden Asset Management
• "Very interesting body of work -- great to have so many high profile people sharing their perspectives and particular interests." -- Bloomberg
• “I was impressed by the many big names that contributed to the book. This enhances the quality a lot and I’m glad the DJSI is in your book as well." -- Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DSJI), SAM
• "Many thanks for the copy of your book – very impressive collection of articles! Much appreciated." -- United Nations

The "EuroCharity Yearbook 2010: The Future of Responsible Investing" was presented in the capitals of Cyprus (at the Hilton Park Nicosia Hotel on June 1, 2011), Greece (at the Old Athens Stock Exchange Hall on June 5, 2011) and the United Kingdom (at the Grange St. Paul's Hotel in London on November 11, 2011).