Running the path to positive impact

Hi, my name is Alan Sicart, lead data scientist at leonardo. Let me tell you a little story about running 170 kilometres along the Costa Brava to Barcelona to present my new book.

A few months ago, I presented my thesis and book, L’estaca: Ecosocialism as If Our Lives Depended on It, at the Degrowth Alumni Conference organised by Research & Degrowth International and the Autonomous University of Barcelona. More than seventy people got a glimpse of the questions I’m trying to answer:

• Why are we facing planetary overshoot while two billion people lack access to basic services?
• What alternatives to bring back balance and secure material needs exist?
• How can we implement them in a fast and just way?

In short, the book argues that any system built on endless capital growth—alienated from nature and divorced from genuine social goals—is destined to fail. By contrast, a democratic economy that ensures everyone’s basic needs are met, with regeneration at its core, isn’t just possible—it already exists in community initiatives, public services, social entrepreneurship and cooperatives. Getting there will require massive social innovation, but also generosity and struggle, because those invested in extractivism and narrow visions of development won’t relinquish their profits without a fight—even if, in the long term, they too would benefit.
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Despite the enormity of the task, it’s inspiring to see people leading the way: farmers who make regenerative farming the new normal; engineers installing solar systems for farmers to diversify their incomes and provide shade in heat-stressed regions; economic planners converting arms factories into cargo-bike manufacturers… and this is only the beginning.

Travelling from Germany to Barcelona for the conference was an act of coherence—proof that a world without overheating or ecosystem collapse isn’t just a dream. I combined trains and a night bus to reach the Costa Brava, then spent four days running the entire coast with a friend. We witnessed the magic of spring rains—rivers flowing, frogs calling, flowers blooming—scenes I haven’t seen since childhood. They reminded me of what our world could be, if we dared to restore balance and care.
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I’m grateful to be back home with my partner and daughter—and with my community and colleagues at leonardo. I don’t take for granted the privilege of meaningful work: supporting entrepreneurs and funds that redirect capital from extraction toward human and environmental flourishing. As a proud migrant, I cherish working in a racism-free space now more than ever.

After a year and a half at leonardo —helping dozens of organizations and funds that already reach millions—I still recall the very first data point I saw: someone reporting that they’d skipped a meal. Behind that response lies struggle, a poverty trap, a lack of opportunity—we’re working to overcome it, because when people are given a chance, they achieve incredible things.

Our goal is to help tens of thousands of organizations change lives and restore ecosystems. But for me, success means proving that another kind of finance is possible, another kind of company is possible, another way of life is possible. If we dare to be utopian again—if we confront the system’s cracks and move beyond its obsolescence—we can be the first generation to end poverty and reverse climate breakdown. It won’t be easy, but we’re committed and ready. leonardo helps other visionaries not only to show that this transformation is happening, but also to get better at it every day—if we choose to measure what truly matters.


Alan has started a crowdfunding campaign to publish his thesis as a book and make the important information and learnings available to as many people as possible. You can find out more about his work and support him directly here.

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