Maja Göpel
Göpel in 2023 at re:publica
Born (1976-06-27) 27 June 1976
Bielefeld, West Germany
(now Germany)
Alma materUniversity of Siegen
University of Hamburg
University of Kassel
Occupation(s)Political economist,
sustainability scientist
Known forSecretary General of the German Advisory Council on Global Change

Maja Göpel (born 27 June 1976) is a German political economist, transformation researcher, and sustainability scientist with a focus on transdisciplinary. In 2019 she co-founded the Scientists for Future initiative.[1] Göpel is an honorary professor at Leuphana University of Lüneburg.[2]

Early life and education

Göpel was born in Bielefeld; as daughter to a social scientist and a medical doctor. She received a diploma in media and communications from the University of Siegen in 2001 and her PhD in political economy from the University of Kassel in 2007. From 2003 to 2006, she had a PhD scholarship of the Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft (fund of German industry body) and taught at the University of Hamburg. Her PhD thesis is about globalisation and world trade. She and volunteered with the Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland (BUND)at this time.

Career

From 2006 to 2012, Göpel helped start the World Future Council as Campaign Manager Climate Energy in Hamburg and as Director Future Justice of the Brussels office, working in EU and UN contexts. From 2013 to 2017, she served as head of the Berlin office of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy with a focus on sustainability transformations. In 2016, she published her book The Great Mindshift: How a New Economic Paradigm and Sustainability Transformations Go Hand in Hand that summarizes research on system transformations, political economy and change management with an emphasis on a change in paradigms, mindsets (mentality) and competencies with which humans shape technical, economic, and social institutions.[3] From 2017 to 2020, she was Secretary General of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), a body that advises the German government on shaping its policies towards sustainability.[4][5] In 2019, she was appointed honorary professor at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg.[2] Also in 2019, she co-founded the Scientists for Future initiative, which published a statement of thousands of scientists validating the claims of the Fridays for Future student protests.[6][7] In February 2020, Göpel published the non-fiction book titeld rethink our world. an invitation (Unsere Welt neu denken. Eine Einladung). In her book, Maja Göpel makes an abstract plea for more distributive justice and criticizes growth paradigms.[8] The book was a commercial success and became number 3 on the German annual bestseller list 2020.[9] From 2020 to 2021, she was Director of Research of The New Institute, founded in Hamburg in 2020. Her involment lastet half a year (see "critics").[5][10]

End of 2021, she became visiting professor at the College of Europe in Bruges.[11][12]

It was announced that Göpl will puplish her second book in spring 2022, titeld “We can do things differently. Setting off into the world of tomorrow”. But the book has been postponed until the beginning of September. Die Zeit had previously announced that parts of the book were co-written to an unknown extent by an co-author, which is un-named in the books (see "critics").[13]

In July 2022 it was announced that Göpl would set up and head his own “Center for Social-Ecological Transformation” at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). The news was not received positively at DIW. The institute already has a “Securing the Future and Sustainability” department with Karsten Neuhoff for climate policy and Claudia Kemfert for economics. The question was whether resources would migrate to the new center. DIW and Göpl then canceled.[14]

The Süddeutsche Zeitung learned that she was designing her own center instead. Located in Berlin, the center "Mission wertvoll" is scheduled to start work in 2023. Göpl wants to bring together science, politics and pioneers from business to give the attention to the opportunities for transformation towards a climate-friendly, sustainable economy. According to Süddeutsche the financing is available.[14]

Memberships

Göpel is, among others, a member of the Bioeconomy Council of the German Federal Government,[15] the International Club of Rome,[16] the World Future Council,[17] the Balaton Group founded by Donella Meadows and Dennis Meadows in 1982,[18] and the German Commission for UNESCO,[19] as well as of the Board of Trustees of WWF Germany,[20] the Board of Trustees of the Museum of Natural History Berlin,[21] the advisory board of the Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources (BSEER) at University College London[22] and the advisory board of the ZOE Institute for Future-fit Economies.[23]

Göpel was nominated by the Alliance 90/The Greens as delegate to the Federal Convention for the purpose of electing the President of Germany in 2022.[24]

Awards

In 2019, Maja Göpel received the Adam Smith Prize,[25] in 2020 the "Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitspreis des Bundesdeutschen Arbeitskreises für Umweltbewusstes Management (B.A.U.M)".[26] In 2021, she was awarded the Erich Fromm Prize,[27] the Theodor Heuss Prize[28] as well as the Science Communication Medal of the Max Planck Society.[29] Also in 2021, The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ranked her 17th among the 100 most influential German economists.[30]

Critics

In August 2022, Die Zeit reported that Göpels new book, as well as the 2020 bestseller, was co-authored by an ghostwriter, which is not mentioned in the book. The extent to which the ghostwriter Marcus Jauer wrote the books is not known.[31]

Ghostwriter journalist Marcus Jauer is not mentioned in any place in the books. According to Göpel, he did not wanted to be named.[14]

Göpel was awarded prizes for her first book, most notably the Erich Fromm Prize. The RND asked in 2022: “Whether she would have gotten it if the title had said “with Marcus Jauer”?”.[13]

Die Zeit wrote that the think tank New Institute in Hamburg hired Göpel as scientific director in autumn 2020, but soon feared for its reputation if the ghostwriting became public. The employment relationship ended in July 2021, formally based on Göpel’s decision.[13]

Selected works

  • Göpel, M., & Arhelger, M. (2010). How to Protect Future Generations' Rights in European Governance. In: Intergenerational Justice Review (1).
  • Göpel, M. (2010). Formulating Future Just Policies: Applying the Delhi Sustainable Development Law Principles. In: Sustainability 2/6 2010, pp. 1694–1718, doi:10.3390/su2061694.
  • Göpel, M. (2011). The Tragedy of our Growth Saga. In: F. Hinterberger, E. Pirgmaier et al. (eds.): Growth in Transition. Earthscan, London, pp. 147–153, ISBN 978-1-84971-395-5.
  • Göpel, M. (2011). Shared Responsibilities and Future Generations: Beyond the Dominant Concepts of Justice, in: Council of Europe (eds.), Towards a Europe of Shared Social Responsibilities: Challenges and Strategies. Trends in Social Cohesion, No. 23, Council of Europe Publishing, Strasbourg, pp. 135–155, http://www.coe.int/t/dg3/socialpolicies/socialcohesiondev/source/Trends/Trends_23_EN.pdf.
  • Göpel, M. (2012). Ombudspersons for Future Generations as Sustainability Implementation Inits. In: Stakeholder Forum Vol. 204. https://stakeholderforum.org/sdg2012-think-pieces/.
  • Göpel, M. (2013). The Responsibility to Prevent: Early Warning Systems to Protect Future Generations, in: M.C. Cordonier Segger, S. Jodoin (eds.), Sustainable Development, International Criminal Justice and Treaty Implementation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  • Göpel, M. (2014). Navigating a New Agenda: Questions and Answers on Paradigm Shifts & Transformational Change, working paper, Wuppertal Institute, http://epub.wupperinst.org/frontdoor/index/index/docId/5517.
  • Göpel, M. (2016). The Great Mindshift: How a New Economic Paradigm and Sustainability Transformations Go Hand in Hand. Springer International, Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-319-43765-1, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-43766-8.
  • Göpel M. (2016) Why the Mainstream Economic Paradigm Cannot Inform Sustainability Transformations. In: The Great Mindshift. The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science, vol 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43766-8_3
  • Göpel, M. (2017). Shedding Some Light on the Invisible: The Transformative Power of Paradigm Shifts, in: T. Henfrey, G. Maschkowski and G. Penha-Lopes (eds.), Resilience, Community Action & Societal Transformation, Permanent Publications, pp. 113–140.
  • Göpel, M. with Ioan Fazey et al. (2017). Ten Essentials for Action-Oriented and Second Order Energy Transitions, Transformations and Climate Change Research, in: Energy Research & Social Science, Vol. 40, pp. 54–70.
  • As Co-Author of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) (2019). Just & In-Time Climate Policy. Four Initiatives for a Fair Transformation, Policy Paper, https://www.wbgu.de/en/publications/publication/just-in-time-climate-policy-four-initiatives-for-a-fair-transformation.
  • As Co-Author of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) (2019). Towards Our Common Digital Future, Flagship Report, https://www.wbgu.de/en/publications/publication/towards-our-common-digital-future.
  • As Co-Author of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) (2019). Digital Momentum for the UN Sustainability Agenda in the 21st Century, Policy Paper, https://www.wbgu.de/en/publications/publication/pp10-2019.
  • As Co-Author of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) (2019). A European Way to Our Common Digital Future, Policy Paper, https://www.wbgu.de/en/publications/publication/pp11-2019.
  • As Co-Author of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) (2020). Rethinking Land in the Anthropocene: from Separation to Integration, Flagship Report, https://www.wbgu.de/en/publications/publication/landshift.
  • Göpel, M. (2020). Unsere Welt neu denken: Eine Einladung. Ullstein, Berlin, ISBN 978-3-550-20079-3. Translations: Dutch, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian.
  • Göpel, M. (2020). A Social-Green Deal, with Just Transition—the European Answer to the Coronavirus Crisis, in: Social Europe, 31. März 2020, https://socialeurope.eu/a-social-green-deal-with-just-transition-the-european-answer-to-the-coronavirus-crisis.

References

  1. ↑ Walker, Amy (12 March 2019). ""Es gibt keine Ausreden mehr"". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Maja Göpel im Portrait". Leuphana Universität Lüneburg (in German). Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  3. ↑ "a manifesto for the disheartened". greatmindshift.org. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  4. ↑ "WBGU: 2017-07-04 Presseerklaerung". 28 March 2019. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  5. 1 2 "Maja Göpel THE NEW INSTITUTE". thenew.institute. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  6. ↑ "PM: "Die Anliegen der demonstrierenden jungen Menschen sind berechtigt"". S4F Deutschland (in German). 12 March 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  7. ↑ Walker, Amy (12 March 2019). ""Es gibt keine Ausreden mehr"". Der Tagesspiegel Online (in German). ISSN 1865-2263. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  8. ↑ deutschlandfunk.de. "Maja Göpel - "Unsere Welt neu denken"". Deutschlandfunk (in German). Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  9. ↑ "Das sind die SPIEGEL-Jahresbestseller". buchreport (in German). 29 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  10. ↑ "Maja Göpel to leave Hamburg-based THE NEW INSTITUTE". THE NEW INSTITUTE. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "European General Studies – Department's presentation for the second semester".
  12. ↑ "Visiting Professor Maja Goepel".
  13. 1 2 3 Decker, Markus (11 August 2022). "Die Wissenschaftlerin Maja Göpel hat ein Buch geschrieben, aber den Co-Autor nicht erwähnt". www.rnd.de (in German). Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 Hagelüken, Alexander; Schreiber, Meike (27 September 2022). "Maja Göpel: Absage eines Shootingstars". Süddeutsche.de (in German). Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  15. ↑ "Ratsmitglieder". BioÖkonomieRat – BÖR (in German). Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  16. ↑ "Göpel, Maja". Club of Rome. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  17. ↑ "Maja Göpel".
  18. ↑ "The Balaton Group". Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  19. ↑ "Mitgliederversammlung | Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission". www.unesco.de (in German). Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  20. ↑ "Der Stiftungsrat des WWF stellt sich vor". www.wwf.de (in German). Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  21. ↑ "Organisation". Museum für Naturkunde (in German). Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  22. ↑ UCL (24 September 2020). "Partnerships & Advisory Board". Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  23. ↑ "Prof Dr Maja Göpel – ZOE Institute for Future-fit Economies". Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  24. ↑ Bürgerschaft: Stimmberechtigte für Bundespräsidentenwahl gewählt Norddeutscher Rundfunk, 15 December 2021.
  25. ↑ "Adam-Smith-Preis". foes.de. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
  26. ↑ "Prof. Dr. Maja Göpel erhält Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitspreis". Leuphana Universität Lüneburg (in German). 20 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  27. ↑ "Politikökonomin Maja Göpel erhält Erich-Fromm-Preis". ZEIT ONLINE (in German). Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  28. ↑ "ZEIT ONLINE | Lesen Sie zeit.de mit Werbung oder im PUR-Abo. Sie haben die Wahl". www.zeit.de. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
  29. ↑ "Science Communication-Medaille". Max-Planck-Institut für Biophysikalische Chemie (in German). Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  30. ↑ Brankovic, Maja. "F.A.Z.-Ökonomenranking: Deutschlands wichtigster Ökonom". FAZ.NET (in German). ISSN 0174-4909. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  31. ↑ Die Zeit: Maja Göpel und der gute Geist https://www.zeit.de/2022/33/ghostwriting-maja-goepel-buch-wir-koennen-auch-anders

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