A new focus and two organisations: NELA. Next Economy Lab and ZOE-Institute for future-fit economies

A strategic focus will enable ZOE and NELA to better serve its various target groups.

A lot has happened at ZOE in the last few months. We have raised over 1 million euros in third-party funding. At the same time, we have been able to successfully develop our organisational consulting despite the pandemic, so that since the beginning of the year we have been able to accompany around 20 organisations and companies on their way to more sustainability. As a result, two strong areas have now developed, which gave us reason to focus on content.

The existing legal form of the non-profit association will be renamed NELA.Next Economy Lab (Website in progress: nexteconomylab.de). Under NELA we will continue our activities with a focus on companies willing to change, civil society organisations and their local political partners. Contact persons are Sarah Mewes, Jonas Bothe, Hannah Strobel and Tanja Brumbauer.

Under the brand and the name ZOE-Institut (still available at: zoe-institute.eu) we continue our activities as a think & do tank in political consulting. The focus is currently on political administrations in the EU, the Federal Government and local authorities. Due to the expectations of partners, this is being done under the umbrella of a new legal form – a non-profit UG (limited liability company). Here Jakob Hafele, Jonathan Barth and Christoph Gran are the contact persons.

The time had come for this step to better reflect the breadth that ZOE had achieved with its new projects and target groups. Both organisations share a passion to work at the with different stakeholders on the challenges for a socially just and ecologically sustainable economy.

We are in good spirits and see great potential in this process of consolidation and the clearer profiles. We will continue to stay connected to each other, both physically and in the form of project cooperation.