Thank you to Jonathan Barth as he embarks on a new career chapter

by Elizabeth Dirth

Jonathan Barth, one of the co-founders of ZOE Institute, recently announced he’s leaving ZOE to start a new professional chapter. 

As a young thinktank, this is a significant moment for us and also marks the beginning of a new chapter for ZOE. Jonathan – together with Jakob Hafele and Christoph Gran – built ZOE from a vision, an idea, a dream. Jonathan has been instrumental in realising that vision – and for that we will always be enormously grateful.  

We want to recognise everything Jonathan has given to ZOE – blood, sweat, tears, countless ideas, passion, commitment to excellence, strategic thinking, I could go on…  

To highlight just a few of Jonathan’s achievements over the years… 

• ZOE Institute received its first project funding in 2019 to work on Sustainable Prosperity. 

• In 2021 Jonathan was leading work to support policymakers, primarily in the European Commission, to implement impactful policies to reduce demand in areas like mobility, housing and food. Then, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, we shifted the focus of our work to gas. We rapidly calculated how the EU could use demand-side solutions to deal with potential energy shortages. Ultimately the EU adopted a regulation obliging all member states to reduce gas consumption by 15%.  

• ZOE Institute was a co-organiser of the Beyond Growth conferences in the European Parliament in 2018 and 2023, with Jonathan intimately involved throughout. At the 2023 conference we ran three ‘policy labs’ in parallel to the main agenda where more than 100 participants worked together on proposals for mainstreaming Beyond GDP indicators, fiscal policy, and the just transition. The conference attracted the participation of EU leaders like Ursula von der Leyen, Maroš Šefčovič, and Paolo Gentiloni and packed-out the Parliament hemicycle for three days.
   
• At the start of this year we published a major study on gas independence for Germany, with 10 detailed policy recommendations to finance the shift away from natural gas. Jonathan was the lead author, and the speaker of the Energy Independence Council panel of interdisciplinary experts which compiled the recommendations. It was launched at a Bundespressekonferenz in Berlin with ZOE advisory board member Maja Göpel and Council member Kristina Jeromin.
   
• As Policy Director, Jonathan has supported many colleagues to navigate the intricacies of the EU policy world, shared his skills and experience internally, and helped to build-up our now 30-strong team.  

ZOE has made a few changes as we enter this next chapter. Together these steps, including Jonathan’s transition and the change in Managing Director in December 2023, mark an important shift in the organisation’s maturity, and the start of an exciting new phase.
 
THANK YOU Jonathan for your vision, ideas, patience, critical-eye, commitment, energy, and belief in us! We are certain you will go on to do more great work for future-fit economies.