Joerg Sommer (CV)
Jörg Sommer is a political scientist and sociologist as well as founding director of the Berlin Institute for Participation. He has also been Chairman of the Board of the German Environmental Foundation since 2009 and is co-editor of the journal „movum“ and the JAHRBUCH ÖKOLOGIE.
He is active in numerous sustainability advisory boards and committees, including the National CSR Forum and the Commission on the Storage of High-Level Radioactive Waste. He has also launched a number of successful sustainability projects, including the first sustainable crowdfunding platform EcoCrowd.
Jörg Sommer has been working on issues of democracy and civic participation for many years and has published over 200 books (fiction for children and adults, non-fiction and reference books), including a handbook on participatory education work with young people as early as 1988. The CIVIC PARTICIPATION COURSE BOOK, which he edited, is a basic work on successful civic participation. His weekly newsletter demokratie.plus highlights numerous aspects and developments of our political system, which he explains pointedly, questions critically and supplements with innovative suggestions.
Jörg Sommer is the father of four children and lives in southern Germany. He has received several awards for his work as a writer, democracy and environmental activist, including the Federal Cross of Merit and the Order of Merit of the State of Baden-Württemberg.
Functions and experiences
- Director | Berlin Institut for Participation (2017 – today)
- CEO | German Environmental Foundation (2009 – today)
- Network Coordinator | Alliance for Diverse Democracy (2018 – today)
- Board Member | Germen Competence Center for Citizen Participation (2020 – today)
- Vice President | one for the planet e.V. (2020 – today)
- President | German Society for Youth and Social Research (1986 – today)
- Co-President | Strassbourg Circle for French-German Friendship (2019 – today)
- Member of the ENSURE advisory board of the Kopernikus projects at
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (2021 – today) - Member of the GoingVis Advisory Board at Freie Universität Berlin (2019 – today)
- Member of the Jury of the Austrian Administrative Award at Austrian Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Public Service and Sports (2021)
- Founder/CEO | Sustainable Crowdfunding Platform EcoCrowd (2014 – today)
- Member of the Practical Advisory Board | „ENGAGE – Commitment to Sustainable Public Welfare“ at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster (2020 – today)
- Member of the Jury | „Excellent! – Competition for Exemplary Citizen Participation“ at German
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (2019) - Member of the advisory board | Study Program „Strategic Sustainability Management“ of the University for Sustainable Development Eberswalde (2014 – today)
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Member of Advisory Board | Upper Rhine Cluster for Sustainability Research (2016 – today)
- Member of the National CSR Forum | Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (2011 – 2014)
- Member of the Progress Forum | Friedrich Ebert Foundation (2011 – 2014)
- Member of the Jury | „Blue Compass“ award of the German Federal Environmental Agency (2015 – 2018)
- Board Member | German Commission on the Storage of High-Level Radioactive Waste of the German Parliament (2014 – 2017)
- Chairman of the Foundation Board | Kant Foundation (2013 – 2015)