Selected Engagements

Work

A selection of key projects and initiatives.

22 projects · 2011—2024
ProjectDescriptionPartnerTagsYear
Coaching cities on youth-led climate action across Europe European regional lead for the Youth Climate Action Fund – mobilising young residents to design and deliver local climate solutions across 300 cities. Bloomberg Philanthropies #climate #cities 2024–
Supporting European cities toward climate neutrality Strategic city support within the EU mission to bring 112 cities to climate neutrality by 2030 – through multi-actor governance and portfolios. EU Commission · Dark Matter Labs #climate #cities #governance 2023–
Building a tool for distributed governance in practice A practical system for civic ecosystems to self-coordinate through distributed agreements – tailored to bioregions and cities. Dark Matter Labs #governance #technology 2023–
Designing a systemic air quality portfolio for Almaty Applying portfolio methodology to urban air quality in Kazakhstan – building systemic conditions for change rather than isolated fixes. UNDP · Dark Matter Labs #climate #cities 2024
Exploring the state of digital civil society in Germany A commissioned study on the maturity and future of digital civil society in Germany – published 2024, presented at re:publica 2025. Stiftung Mercator #research #democracy 2023–2024
Advising on strategy and narrative for digital sovereignty Strategic and narrative advisor to Germany's federal centre for digital sovereignty in public administration. ZenDiS #governance #technology 2024–
Building a GovTech procurement product from the inside Interim product lead in a small founding team – user research, strategy, and design for a public procurement tool later acquired. GovMind GmbH #technology #governance 2023–2024
Shaping an innovation framework for African cities Collaborative research and writing on urban innovation and governance across African contexts, with a book chapter forthcoming with De Gruyter. African Centre for Cities, Cape Town #cities #research 2023–
A course to rethink public innovation from first principles An independent course and writing project on what public innovation actually requires, and why the dominant frameworks keep falling short. #governance #teaching 2023–
Teaching systemic resilience strategy to city teams Master classes and coaching for a foundation programme building climate and resilience capacity across European cities. BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt #cities 2023–2024
Mapping Germany's GovTech ecosystem An ecosystem study of the players, gaps, and dynamics shaping government technology in Germany. GovTech Campus Deutschland · World Economic Forum #technology #research 2024
Designing a participatory narrative for Berlin's Smart City strategy Part of the team shaping how Berlin's flagship digital city programme was framed, narrated, and understood. CityLab Berlin · Politics for Tomorrow #cities #technology 2022–2023
Researching the future of public services Research on the principles and conditions for future-proof basic services (Daseinsvorsorge) in an age of digital and ecological transition. IZT Potsdam · Wuppertal Institut #research #governance 2022
Exploring urban data governance for Neue Hanse Examining how cities might govern data as a shared resource, part of a broader inquiry into post-digital urban futures. The New Institute #cities #governance 2022
Researching the future of free knowledge Research and strategic advisory for Wikimedia's accelerator on how open-knowledge and civic communities innovate. Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. #research #democracy 2020
Coaching civic tech teams to build public-interest technology Coaching 150+ early-stage teams on strategy, product, and organisation, alongside early advisory to the programme. Prototype Fund · Open Knowledge Foundation #technology #democracy 2016–2022
Co-founding a public design and city innovation lab Co-lead of a Berlin public design practice, the starting point for sustained work on cities and public innovation. Zero360 #venturing #cities 2020–2023
Probing data, identity, and narrative ownership through art A documentary and interactive web project on what online data reveals, and who owns the story it tells. Still live. LAOKOON #research #technology 2020
Founding a global conference on technology and ethics Co-founded and ran ThingsCon (2014–2024), a conference and community on responsible, human-centred connected technology. Independent #venturing #technology 2014–2024
Co-designing and curating a design-research fellowship A fellowship gathering researchers and practitioners working at the frontier of design, ecology, and systemic thinking. SOAM #venturing #research 2023
Founding a festival on creative technologies A festival in Dortmund exploring art, design, and technology in a post-industrial metropolitan ecosystem. Florida Brand Design · Dortmunder U #venturing 2016–2018
Building a tech venture across Berlin, London, and the US Co-founded a Seedcamp-selected startup through five financing rounds, in the space of open hardware and distributed teams. #venturing #technology 2011–2015

Teaching

Lectures, studios & guest programmes
ProgrammeInstitutionTagTermYear
Systems Thinking for Public Servants Verwaltungsakademie Berlin #governance Recurring 2024–
Societal Design & Governance University of Applied Arts Vienna #socialdesign Visiting 2023–