Simon Höher is an independent strategist and Systems Change Lead at Dark Matter Labs, working on just transformation processes with public, private, and civic organisations. In his work he explores emerging patterns of urban governance, public innovation, and digital transformation.
Simon holds an academic background in sociology, political science, economics, and philosophy, with a strong focus on systems theory. He has been working on innovation and transformation processes for over a decade, and tends to stay with a question over time rather than apply a fixed method, working alongside the people carrying a transformation on the conditions, interdependencies, and trade-offs that decide whether it holds.
This currently runs across several roles: As European regional lead for Bloomberg Philanthropies' Youth Climate Action Fund, he coordinates climate-action coaching across cities in Europe. At Dark Matter Labs, he supports cities in the European Commission's NetZeroCities mission and co-leads the development of new governance tools and civic tech initiatives. Alongside the advisory work sit commissioned research, published writing, and regular teaching, including as visiting lecturer at the Faculty for Social Design at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and at the Verwaltungsakademie Berlin.
Over the years he has worked with a wide range of clients and partners, from accompanying Berlin's Smart City strategy and exploring urban data governance with The New Institute in Hamburg, to research with the UNDP, the World Economic Forum, and the African Centre for Cities in Cape Town. Other clients and partners include Stiftung Mercator, the BMW Foundation, Mozilla, Wikimedia, the Goethe-Institut, BVG, and the Open Knowledge Foundation, alongside corporations such as Adidas, Lufthansa, Porsche, and Miele, and various municipalities and ministries. Simon is an alumnus of the European Policy Centre's FutureLab in Brussels, MIT's International Development Innovation Network, and Seedcamp, and a regular speaker at conferences including re:publica and FutureDays. His work has been featured in WIRED, Fast Company, Make: Magazine, Deutschlandfunk, and others. He is based in Berlin.
