General Article | Page 11 | Monika Griefahn

Study: can conservation and the energy transition co-exist?

Here’s the good news: yes, we can! Christina von Haaren of the Institute of Environmental Planning at the University of Hanover and her team are currently preparing a study for the Federal Ministry of the Environment in Germany

Emotion Award – A Prize for women who inspire

Dr. Alexandra Widmer? Heike Langguth? Annette Pascoe? None of them are names necessarily known to everyone. And yet all of these women have recently received the Emotion Award in Germany.

Utopian ideas and clear outlines against political disillusionment

Already, the campaign for this year’s parliamentary elections in Germany is looming. In order to inspire citizens, and especially young people, to get involved with politics (again) the Friedrich Ebert foundation and our local Member of Parliament, Svenja Stadler

Trees don’t listen to McKinsey

The Austrian Erwin Thoma is in his mid-fifties and a forester as well as an economist by trade. He owns a company that builds homes from solid wood – without any screws or glue. Thoma is also an author, and he has the following message: be like the spruce tree!

And the award (quite literally) goes to…

The winner of the most recent Right Livelihood Award (“Alternative Nobel Prize”) was announced back in November 2016. However, as the laureate, Mozn Hassan, was not allowed to travel outside of her native Egypt she wasn’t able to participate in the awards ceremony in Stockholm.

Cradle to Cradle Congress 2026

Save the date! For the tenth time, the Cradle to Cradle NGO is hosting the international Cradle to Cradle Congress on September 17 and 18, 2026. The focus is on exchange and networking—panel discussions with stakeholders from politics, business, and science, inspireing keynotes, and everything important about the transformation of society toward a true circular economy await guests. C2C Congress 2026

eFuels

Synthetic fuels are one of the decisive factors for the energy transition away from fossile fuels. That is why I am committed to the further development and practical use of eFuels and and am spokesperson for the board of the eFuel Alliance.
English website of the eFuel Alliance

Living City Foundation

The Living City Foundation sees itself as a catalyst for overcoming urban challenges and supports the exchange of experiences between cities, the federal government, the states, and society. It promotes projects and awards a foundation prize once a year. I am very pleased to be able to contribute to the Living City Foundation as deputy chair of the foundation board.
To the foundation’s website

Right Livelihood Award

They are committed to a vibrant democracy and human solidarity, addressing the most pressing issues of our time: The 2025 winners of the Right Livelihood Award are: the organization Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC, Oceania) and Julian Aguon (Guam) / the research initiative “Justice For Myanmar” / Audrey Tang from Taiwan and the network “Emergency Response Rooms” from Sudan. Read more about the “Alternative Nobel Prize” here.

Federal Order of Merit

After the award ceremony, Olaf Lies, Monika Griefahn and Rainer Rempe stand together. Photo: Frank Ossenbrink

In 2018 Dr. Monika Griefahn received the Federal Order of Merit. Please read more about her biography and about the award ceremony in our blog.