Maja Göpel (born 27 June 1976) is a German political economist, transformation researcher, and sustainability scientist with a focus on transdisciplinary.

From 2003 to 2006, she had a PhD scholarship of the Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft [de] (fund of German industry body) and taught at the University of Hamburg.

From 2013 to 2017, she served as head of the Berlin office of the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy with a focus on sustainability transformations.

In 2016, she published her book The Great Mindshift: How a New Economic Paradigm and Sustainability Transformations Go Hand in Hand that summarizes research on system transformations, political economy and change management with an emphasis on a change in paradigms, mindsets (mentality) and competencies with which humans shape technical, economic, and social institutions.

[13] In July 2022 it was announced that Göpl would set up and head his own “Center for Social-Ecological Transformation” at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW).

The institute already has a “Securing the Future and Sustainability” department with Karsten Neuhoff for climate policy and Claudia Kemfert for economics.

Göpl wants to bring together science, politics and pioneers from business to give the attention to the opportunities for transformation towards a climate-friendly, sustainable economy.

[24] In 2019, Maja Göpel received the Adam Smith Prize,[25] in 2020 the "Umwelt- und Nachhaltigkeitspreis des Bundesdeutschen Arbeitskreises für Umweltbewusstes Management (B.A.U.M)".

[13] Die Zeit wrote that the think tank The New Institute in Hamburg hired Göpel as scientific director in autumn 2020, but soon feared for its reputation if the ghostwriting became public.