Thomas Viertel

Thomas Viertel is a Senior Associate in the area of innovation and stakeholder management with a primary focus on sustainable consumption, trade, sustainable mobility and energy infrastructures. Central to his work is the creation of dialogue, participation and cooperation structures with and between different stakeholders. Thomas has worked in sustainability for NGOs, associations, municipalities, ministries, universities and international companies. His core competence lies in an in-depth understanding of goals, values, action logics and structures of important stakeholders and multipliers. Thomas has extensive knowledge in strategy development, concept creation and the management of large consulting and dialogue projects for national ministries, associations, think tanks and companies. He also has many years of experience in the moderation of stakeholder dialogues, technical discussions and conferences.

Thomas has been working on the subject of sustainable consumption for over eight years on behalf of the Ministry of the Environment and the Federal Environment Agency. He is currently leading a project to promote energy efficiency and climate protection in the retail sector in cooperation with the German Trade Association. In addition to sustainable consumption and retail, another major area of focus is renewable energies and energy infrastructures. He is leading a follow-up project on risk communication in electricity grid expansion for the Federal Office for Radiation Protection.

Prior to joining adelphi, Thomas worked in politics for the environmental protection organization Germanwatch, as a Research Assistant to the Enquête Commission Globalization in the Bundestag and as an employee of the parliamentary group Bündnis 90/Die Grünen. As a freelance consultant, he advised associations and international companies in the energy industry and trade in the areas of sustainability, sustainability reporting and political communication. Thomas has been working as a lecturer on political communication, media sociology and stakeholder management at private and public universities since 2003. He is currently teaching stakeholder management at the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences.  

Thomas grew up in Somalia, Mexico and Tokyo and studied political science and economics at the University of Würzburg.