School of Sustainability
Organisational unit: Research School
- Centre for Sustainability Management (CSM)
- Institute of Ecology
- Institute of Ethics and Transdisciplinary Sustainability Research
- Institute of Sustainability Governance
- Institute of Sustainability Material Flows and Circularity
- Institute of Sustainability Psychology
- Institute of Sustainable Chemistry
- Social-Ecological Systems Institute (SESI)
- Sustainability Education and Transdisciplinary Research Institute
Organisation profile
Sustainability has many facets. Inter- and transdisciplinary research and teaching characterize the School of Sustainability. Scientists in our research projects work together in the laboratory, on the heath, in the grassland, in the classroom, with the city administration, with farmers, with non-governmental organizations, with companies, with students in the lecture hall and of course at their desks.
Furthermore, we work with regional and national political actors, e.g. ministries, as well as international organizations, e.g. UNEP, UNESCO, EU. We are part of national and international bodies, e.g. sustainability advisory boards of companies, member of the German Sustainability Award, World Biodiversity Council (IPBES), in order to contribute to social change with scientific findings.
Main research areas
Vision
Sustainability science investigates on a theoretical, conceptual and empirical level how to promote sustainable development and how to find and implement effective solutions for current social and ecological challenges. The aim is to create a more sustainable future.
Sustainability researchers are called upon to take responsibility for their research, which is anchored in existing scientific knowledge and methods and serves to make the world a better place for everyone.
Mission
We promote change towards a sustainable future by developing theories, concepts and practices of inclusive education for sustainability, research, governance and management.
We acknowledge the diversity and dynamics of values, norms and behaviour and contribute with transdisciplinary methods to ensuring that tensions and differences between different disciplines, methods, topics and standards are fruitfully taken up and used with productive compromises and further developments towards sustainable development.
Principles
The School of Sustainability is guided by the normative concepts of ecological system integrity and social and economic justice.
Ecological system integrity refers to the safeguarding of life-support systems, as well as the maintenance of the well-being of life on Earth.
With social and economic justice we strive for a world in which all people can fulfil their potential without endangering system integrity and the well-being of others.
Information about the School
The School of Sustainability includes...
... ca. 25 professors
... ca. 100 research assistants
... ca. 1000 students in Bachelor and Master courses
In various inter- and transdisciplinary projects we are constantly researching and working together on changes and solutions for current challenges.
DWoC 2: Design-Driven Value Chains in the World of Cellulose
Farny, S. (Project manager, academic)
01.04.15 → 31.12.18
Project: Research
Designing knowledge-action networks for supporting energy focused sociotechnical change in illiberal democracies: Interfacing science, policy and transformation processes towards sustainability in Andean Countries.
Noboa, E. (Project manager, academic) & Heinrichs, H. (Project manager, academic)
05.10.15 → 04.06.19
Project: Dissertation project
NaKoV: Development and implementation of an integrated sustainability management system in the local public sector, based on the sub-projects “Accounting System Reform” (Freiburg) and “Administrative Reform in the Case of Energy Management (Lüneburg)”
Heinrichs, H. (Project manager, academic), Lang, D. J. (Project manager, academic), Kirst, E. (Project staff) & Plawitzki, J. (Project staff)
German Federal Environmental Foundation
01.05.12 → 30.04.17
Project: Research
CLIMASP: Development of an Interdisciplinary Programme on Climate Change and Sustainability Policy
Michelsen, G. (Project manager, academic), Mader, M. (Coordination) & Mader, C. (Project staff)
01.12.13 → 31.03.19
Project: Transfer (R&D project)
Development of a pilot module for a practice-oriented further education offering for municipal employees “Environmental protection and sustainable regional development in Slovakia”
Adomßent, M. (Project manager, academic)
01.01.05 → 30.06.07
Project: Research
Biomasse: Development of a practice-proven method to simultaneously dehydrate and pelletize agricultural biomass
Schaltegger, S. (Project manager, academic) & Lüdeke-Freund, F. (Project staff)
German Federal Environmental Foundation
07.12.06 → 14.11.09
Project: Research
Aquiferspeicher: Development of Areas of Application of Middle Deep Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage in Northern Germany from Economic, Geological-Technical, Environmental Chemistry and Legal/Subsidy Policy Perspectives; work packages: Economic, Environmental Chemistry and Legal Analysis of Aquifer Storage
Degenhart, H. (Project manager, academic), Holstenkamp, L. (Coordination), Schomerus, T. (Project manager, academic), Opel, O. (Project staff), Strodel, N. (Project staff) & Neidig, P. (Project staff)
01.04.16 → 30.06.19
Project: Research
Development of sustainable as well as environmental-friendly, adaptive and cost-effective technical protection measures for sandy beaches
Brinkmann, B. (Project manager, academic)
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
01.04.10 → 30.09.12
Project: Research
MECS: DFG-Kolleg-Forschergruppe MECS (Medienkulturen der Computersimulation)
Pias, C. (Project manager, academic), Warnke, M. (Project manager, academic), Vehlken, S. (Project staff), Schrape, N. (Project staff), Schrickel, I. (Project staff), Stöcklmayr, N. (Project staff), Engemann, C. (Project staff), Winter, F. (Project staff) & Wellmann, J. (Project staff)
01.01.13 → 31.07.22
Project: Research
DFG Resarch Unit 5501: A social-ecological systems approach to inform ecosystem restoration in rural Africa . Subproject SP2: Landscape context - landscape-scale restoration dynamics in western Rwanda
Fischer, J. (Project manager, academic), Kümmerle, T. (Project manager, academic) & Sun, P. (Project staff)
01.05.23 → 30.04.27
Project: Research
DFG Research Unit 5064: The role of nature for human well-being in the Kilimanjaro Social-Ecological System (Kili-SES) - Sub project 3: Demand and values of Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP)
Martín-López, B. (Project manager, academic), Groß, M. (Project staff), Pearson, J. (Project staff) & Julius, J. (Project staff)
01.07.20 → 01.02.26
Project: Research
DFG Research Unit 5064: The role of nature for human well-being in the Kilimanjaro Social-Ecological System (Kili-SES) - Sub project 7: Synthesis
Martín-López, B. (Project manager, academic), Böhning-Gaese, K. (Project manager, academic), Fischer, M. (Project manager, academic) & Zeuss, D. (Project manager, academic)
12.12.24 → 12.12.28
Project: Research
DFG Research Unit 5281: Multi-Trophic Interactions in a Forest Biodiversity Experiment in China - Subproject 6: Trophic interactions and ecological functions of ants under changing tree diversity
Staab, M. (Project manager, academic)
01.04.25 → 31.10.26
Project: Research
DFG Research Unit 5501: A social-ecological systems approach to inform ecosystem restoration in rural Africa
Fischer, J. (Project manager, academic)
01.05.23 → 30.04.27
Project: Research
DFG Research Unit 5501: A social-ecological systems approach to inform ecosystem restoration in rural Africa. Sub Project SP8: Synthesis: Social-ecological restoration in western Rwanda
Fischer, J. (Project manager, academic)
01.05.23 → 30.04.27
Project: Research
DFG Research Unit 5501: A social-ecological systems approach to inform ecosystem restoration in rural Africa. Subprojekt - Sub project 3: Designing and implementing restoration governance for entvironmental justice
Martín-López, B. (Project manager, academic)
01.05.23 → 30.04.27
Project: Research
DFG research unit “The role of nature for human well-being in the Kilimanjaro Social-Ecological System” (Kili-SES-2) - Sub project 3: “Understanding social-ecological transformations: the role of initiatives’ values, rules and knowledge”
Martín-López, B. (Project manager, academic) & Groß, M. (Project manager, academic)
12.12.24 → 12.12.28
Project: Research
TreeDì: DFG Reserach Training Group 2324: TreeDì – Tree Diversity Interactions: The role of tree-tree interactions in local neighbourhoods in Chinese subtropical forests; P1: Spatial above- and belowground complementarity
von Oheimb, G. (Project manager, academic), Fichtner, A. (Project manager, academic), Liu, X. (Project manager, academic), Ma, K. (Project manager, academic) & Bu, W. (Project manager, academic)
01.12.22 → 31.05.27
Project: Research
TreeDì: DFG Reserach Training Group 2324: TreeDì – Tree Diversity Interactions: The role of tree-tree interactions in local neighbourhoods in Chinese subtropical forests; P2: Complementarity through trait variation
Haider, S. (Project manager, academic), Harpole, W. S. (Project manager, academic), Ma, Z. (Project manager, academic) & Yang, B. (Project manager, academic)
01.12.22 → 31.05.27
Project: Research
DFG Reserach Unit 5375: Enhancing the structural diversity between patches for improving multidiversity and multifunctionality in production forests - Sub Project 8: Understorey plant assemblages and primary production
Fichtner, A. (Project manager, academic)
01.06.23 → 30.05.26
Project: Research