Dr. Jonas Schoenefeld has been at the IWU since October 2020, where he currently works as a Scientist and Project Leader. He was previously employed at the Institute of Political Science at the Technical University of Darmstadt.

Dr. Schoenefeld’s research focuses on the governance of climate change, energy and the environment, including climate change adaptation and the neighborhood level. He analyses actors, their contexts and steering approaches/instruments. He also conducts long-standing research on policy monitoring and evaluation at different governance levels, where he explores monitoring and evaluation approaches empirically. He has been cited in the 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Working Group II (PDF, 378 MB, chap. 14, p. 1942), which appeared in February 2022.

Current research projects investigate challenges and potential solutions in modernizing municipal building stocks as well as the governance of life cycle assessment in the building sector. His monography on The Evaluation of Polycentric Climate Governance appeared with Cambridge University Press in 2023.

Dr. Schoenefeld received his doctorate from the School of Environmental Sciences/Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia. He holds a BA in psychology with minors in environmental studies and Spanish from Middlebury College (USA) and an MPhil in Geography and Environment from the University of Oxford (United Kingdom).

• Google Scholar

Selected projects and publications

Projects

• Erstellung eines Konzepts zur Auswertung der Aktionspläne hessischer Klima-Kommunen
• Comparing Municipal Climate Adaptation – The Diffusion of Policy Innovations
• s:ne - Systeminnovation für Nachhaltige Entwicklung

Publications

 

• Schoenefeld, J. J.; Hildén, M.; Siiskonen, S.-T. (2025).
  The challenge of monitoring policy mixes for reducing emissions from buildings.
  — npj Climate Action 4(21).

  To the article
  doi.org/10.1038/s44168-025-00213-w

• Zwaan, P.; Schoenefeld, J. J. (2024).
  Explaining different usages of policy monitoring in the EU.
  — Journal of European Integration, 46(8), 1257-1273.

  To the article
  doi.org/10.1080/07036337.2024.2354490

• Schoenefeld, J. J.; Edel, F.; Behr, I.; Frommer, B.; Bernhard, M.; Stein, B. (2024).
  Positive public administration for sustainable development: the crucial role of municipalities in driving success. In: Lucas, P.; Nabatchi, T.; O'Flynn, J.; 't Hart, P. (Hg.). Pathways to Positive Public Administration: An Interational Perspective, 143–164. Edward Elgar Publishing.

  To the Chapter
  doi.org/10.4337/9781803929170.00018

• Schoenefeld, J. J. (2023).
  The Evaluation of Polycentric Climate Governance. Cambridge University Press.

  To the publisher's site
  ISBN: 9781316511244

• Schoenefeld, J. J.; Hildén, M.; Schulze, K.; Sorvali, J. (2023).
  What motivates and hinders municipal adaptation policy? Exploring vertical and horizontal diffusion in Hessen and Finland.
  — Regional Environmental Change, 23(2).

  To the article
  doi.org/10.1007/s10113-023-02048-9