Thomas Legrand
Main profile
Thomas Legrand is a wisdom-seeker, a social scientist and a sustainability practitioner. He is the author of Politics of Being: Wisdom and Science for a New Development Paradigm (2022).
Holding a Ph.D. in (Ecological) Economics and having studied international development, political science, and management, Thomas Legrand works in the field of sustainability for UN agencies, private companies, and NGOs. His focus is on the role of inner change for sustainability as well as forest conservation, climate change, sustainable finance, and leadership. He is currently the lead advisor of the UNDP-convened Conscious Food Systems Alliance.
His spiritual journey began at the age of 23 with an encounter with native spirituality in Mexico, before embracing the wisdom of a wide range of traditions and practices, including meditation, energetic healing and Tai-chi-chuan. He lives with his wife and their two young daughters near Plum Village, the monastery of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in the South West of France, his country.
His spiritual search, his thought as a social scientist and his professional experience have gradually converged on the importance of spiritual wisdom in humanity's ongoing transition. Searching for a way to mainstream this understanding in the political and sustainability conversation, he has dedicated much of the last 10 years to researching and reflecting how we can radically rethink our model of development. The result is his acclaimed book Politics of Being.
Politics of being aims at aligning our institutions with our true reason to be here on Earth: becoming who we are, the best and most complete version of ourselves.