is one of the most prominent voices for sustainability and social transformation in Germany. The founder of “Mission Wertvoll” has been working for 25 years as a political economist, transformation expert, and sustainability scientist at the intersection of science, politics, and society.
Maja Göpel, born in 1976 in Bielefeld, earned her degree in Media Management from the University of Siegen in 2001 and completed her doctorate in Political Economy in 2007. From 2017 to 2020, she served as Secretary General of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), where she advised the German government on global sustainability policy. Before that, she led the Berlin office of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, and Energy.
Today, she is an honorary professor at Leuphana University of Lüneburg and a member of the Club of Rome. As a co-initiator of Scientists for Future and the author of widely acclaimed books, she plays a key role in shaping public debate on a sustainable future. For her commitment, she has received numerous awards, including the Theodor Heuss Prize and the Science Communication Medal from the Max Planck Institute.