Living Legends changemakers

The selection

• Aaron SorkinLos Angeles, USA“Because he understood that the gap between democratic ideals and institutional reality is where drama lives, and because works like “The West Wing” and “The Newsroom” showed millions of people what genuine public-spirited argument could look like before they’d ever witnessed it in their actual institutions.”Recommended by Alberto Alemanno
• Abderazzak BenchaabaneMarrakech, Morocco“Forty years documenting Morocco's plants. He saved knowledge that was about to disappear.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Ama, Japanese Freediving WomenMie Prefecture, Japan“Two thousand years of diving in rhythm with the sea, taking only enough to come back. They still teach us how to live with the ocean.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Amélie NothombParis, France“Amélie Nothomb, writer and extraordinary woman. Because her presence in the world of writing is a constant source of inspiration, as is the idea that one can write every single day, each day at dawn, and deliver readers a new book every year, for the sole reason that inspiration never runs dry. Her very existence is a constant reminder of my own laziness.”Recommended by Ilaria Gaspari
• Angela DavisOakland, USA“Angela Davis is undoubtedly one of the most clear-sighted pacifists of the 21st c. And, without a doubt, when it comes to the notion of incarceration, she is a figure we cannot afford to overlook.”Recommended by Coralie Custos Quatreville
• CERNGenève, Switzerland“Seventeen thousand scientists from a hundred countries work there as one. This is where the Higgs was found and the web was invented.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Donna HarawaySanta Cruz, USARecommended by Søren Hermansen
• Ellen MacArthur FoundationLondon, UK“Ellen gave the circular economy its language. That language went on to shape real policy.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Equal Justice InitiativeMontgomery, USA“Bryan Stevenson says change starts when you get close to injustice. I believe him.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Germaine AcognyToubab Dialaw, Senegal“Because gesture and movement are, above all, a constant rethinking of openness.”Recommended by Coralie Custos Quatreville
• Heatherwick StudioLondon, UK“Thomas argues that buildings should move us. His work makes the argument for him.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Institut Océanographique Paul Ricardîle des Embiez, France“Fifty years of independent science on the Mediterranean, open to the public for free. A gift.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Knepp Wildland / Isabella TreeDorset, UK“They let a worn-out farm go wild, and the turtle doves and nightingales came back. That story changed how I think about land.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Kéré ArchitectureBerlin, Germany“Francis Kéré builds with local hands and local materials, and the community owns what gets built.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• La ChartreuseAiguenoire, France“They chose to make less so as to stay what they are. That takes courage, and I admire it.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Léna BlouPointe-à-Pitre, France“Léna Blou invites us to reflect on the colonial legacy and on how the body can become a space of emancipation, capable of transforming both an individual and an entire society.”Recommended by Coralie Custos Quatreville
• Michel MayorGenève, Switzerland“He turned the question of whether we are alone into something we can measure.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Mondragon CorporationMondragon, Spain“Eighty thousand worker-owners have governed their own companies since 1956. I know no more serious alternative to shareholder capitalism.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Nyaguthii ChegeNairobi, Kenya“Carrying Wangari Maathai's vision forward is no small task. Under Chege, a founding African environmental movement stays rooted in the women and communities who do the planting.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Olivier RoellingerCancale, FranceRecommended by Katy Foraz
• Philippe MeirieuLyon, France“An educationalist and a figure of progressive education, Philippe Meirieu defends a school where pupils search, experiment and build their own knowledge, and he always ties learning to democracy.”Recommended by Paul Emilieu Marchesseau
• Pierre RosanvallonParis, France“Because he built an entire intellectual project around making democracy work better rather than just critiquing it, and because he showed that rigorous scholarship and public engagement are not just compatible but necessary complements.”Recommended by Alberto Alemanno
• Ralph NaderWashington D.C, USA“Because he demonstrated that one person armed with rigorous research and moral clarity can reshape entire systems of power, and because he never confused access to elites with actual influence over them.”Recommended by Alberto Alemanno
• Simone Schwarz-BartGoyave, Guadeloupe“To bring such a small part of the world to the fore, knowing that it holds so many of the answers to the challenges of our time.”Recommended by Coralie Custos Quatreville
• Simonetta CheliFrascati, Italy“She turns satellite data into tools for climate decisions. That is Europe taking its responsibility seriously.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Tetsunari IidaTokyo, JapanRecommended by Søren Hermansen
• VelaParis, FranceRecommended by Simon Bernard
• Wanjira MathaiNairobi, Kenya“She carries the Green Belt Movement forward while shaping climate policy for the continent. With her, the link between restored land and restored dignity becomes obvious.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• Wildlife Conservation Fund / Hélène GrimaudNew York, USA“A great pianist who gives her fame to wolves. Art and wildness together, and it moves me.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume
• World Access for the BlindLos Angeles, USA“Daniel taught himself to see with sound, and now he teaches thousands. It changes what we think a person can learn.”Recommended by Florian Guillaume