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.

  1. 2020
  2. Published

    BIOLOGISCH ABBAUBARE CHINOLON-ANTIBIOTIKA

    Kümmerer, K., Leder, C., Rastogi, T., Suk, M. & Menz, J., 19.08.2020, IPC No. A61K31/4709 , A61P31/04 , C07D401/12, Europäisches Patentamt, Patent No. EP3694516A1, 10.10.2018, Priority date 11.10.2017, Priority No. DE102017218114A

    Research output: PatentsPatent

  3. Published

    Efficacy of a smartphone-based intervention - "holidaily" - promoting recovery behaviour in workers after a vacation: Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

    Smyth, A., De Bloom, J., Syrek, C., Domin, M., Janneck, M., Reins, J. A. & Lehr, D., 26.08.2020, In: BMC Public Health. 20, 1, 17 p., 1286.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Management von Innovationsprozessen für nachhaltige Entwicklung

    Schäfer, M., König, B., Kuntosch, A., Richter, B. & Schaal, T., 27.08.2020, In: Ökologisches Wirtschaften. 33, 3, p. 40-46 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Assessment of the biotic and abiotic elimination processes of five micropollutants during cultivation of the green microalgae Acutodesmus obliquus

    Reymann, T., Kerner, M. & Kümmerer, K., 09.2020, In: Bioresource Technology Reports. 11, 100512.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Biocultural approaches to sustainability: A systematic review of the scientific literature

    Hanspach, J., Jamila Haider, L., Oteros-Rozas, E., Stahl Olafsson, A., Gulsrud, N. M., Raymond, C. M., Torralba, M., Martín-López, B., Bieling, C., García-Martín, M., Albert, C., Beery, T. H., Fagerholm, N., Díaz-Reviriego, I., Drews-Shambroom, A. & Plieninger, T., 09.2020, In: People and Nature. 2, 3, p. 643-659 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch

  7. Published

    Innovation for Sustainability: Business Transformations Towards a Better World

    Upham, P., 09.2020, In: R&D Management. 50, 4, p. 431-431 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsCritical reviewsResearch

  8. Published

    Open to Offers, but Resisting Requests: How the Framing of Anchors Affects Motivation and Negotiated Outcomes

    Majer, J. M., Trötschel, R., Galinsky, A. & Loschelder, D. D., 09.2020, In: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 119, 3, p. 582-599 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Reconciling food security and biodiversity conservation: participatory scenario planning in southwestern Ethiopia

    Jiren, T. S., Hanspach, J., Schultner, J., Fischer, J., Bergsten, A., Senbeta, F., Hylander, K. & Dorresteijn, I., 09.2020, In: Ecology and Society. 25, 3, p. 1-16 16 p., 24.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Red and green loops help uncover missing feedbacks in a coral reef social–ecological system

    Dajka, J. C., Woodhead, A. J., Norström, A. V., Graham, N. A. J., Riechers, M. & Nyström, M., 09.2020, In: People and Nature. 2, 3, p. 608-618 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    A stakeholder theory perspective on business models: Value creation for sustainability

    Freudenreich, B., Lüdeke-Freund, F. & Schaltegger, S., 01.09.2020, In: Journal of Business Ethics. 166, 1, p. 3-18 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review