About us
communia is a young,
progressive think tank
developing strategies for a democratic economy that belongs to all of us and serves all of us.
Laura Meschede
(she/her) | Team member
Laura Meschede conducts research about democratic energy transition and ownership structures in the energy sector for communia. She has studied history and political science in Munich and worked in journalism and human rights monitoring.
Justus Henze
(he/him) | Team member
studied social economics and urban studies in Hamburg and Berlin. He is active in Deutsche Wohnen & Co. Enteignen and works at communia as project coordinator for socialization perspectives in the energy sector. Justus co-founded the Netzwerk demokratische Wirtschaftsplanung and teaches as a lecturer at the University of Hamburg.
Elise Jost
(she/her) | Team member
is responsible for public relations and social media at communia. She studied media and communications in Paris and led the social media team at Ecosia. She is particularly interested in the intersection of politics and pop culture, and how communication can shape social change.
Vincent Janz
(he/him) | Team member
is a co-founder of communia, where he works for a democratic economy and public luxury. He was project coordinator for the socialization conference held in Berlin in 2022, and studied social and political sciences and political economy in Maastricht, Vienna and at the Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung (Koblenz).
Lukas Warning
(he/him) | Team member
is a political economist and a co-founder of communia. He studied in Maastricht, Toulouse and Koblenz. He worked as an educational officer for climate justice, founded and coordinated the civil-society alliance Wachstumswende Bremen, and worked as a campaigner and policy advisor on socio-ecological transformation at Oxfam Germany.
Luise Butzer
(she/her) | Team member
is interested not only in who owns the infrastructure of basic services, but also in how decisions about it are made and whose voices have to be heard. She studied social sciences and sociology in Cologne and Jena, focusing on sustainability and societal transformation, and is active in climate-policy, anti-fascist and feminist contexts.
Max Wilken
(he/him) | Team member
studied political economy in Maastricht, Freiburg and at the Hochschule für Gesellschaftsgestaltung in Koblenz. He is currently working on his doctorate on the potential of democratization for a socio-ecological transformation of the automotive industry. He is a co-founder of communia and co-organized the 2022 Socialization Conference.
Our funders
Rosa Luxemburg Foundation
Open Society Foundations