Simone Ariane Pflaum is the Director of Sustainability Management for the City of Freiburg, a city recognized as the most sustainable in Germany and a model for sustainability innovation globally. Simone leads the sustainability process for Freiburg and collaborates with local businesses, political bodies, and civil society. Prior to working for the City of Freiburg, Simone was an adviser for Edith Sitzmann, the Chairwoman of the Green Party in State Parliament. From 2009 to 2012, Simone served as the youngest member of the Freiburg City Council, representing youth interests and focusing on issues such as sustainability, urban development, inclusion, and migration.

Simone holds an MA in Political Sciences, Sociology, and Pedagogy from the Albert-Ludwigs-Universitat Freiburg and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the Universidad de Granada in Spain. As a member of ICLEI’s FutureCityLeader Initiative, Simone was a delegate to the United Nations Conference Rio+20 and in 2014 she was selected to participate in the US State Department’s International Visitor’s Leadership Program.