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. 2021
  2. Published

    Gone and forgotten: facilitative effects of intercropping combinations did not carry over to affect barley performance in a follow‑up crop rotation

    Kumar, A., Rosinger, C., Chen, H., Protic, S., Bonkowski, M. & Temperton, V., 10.2021, In: Plant and Soil. 467, 1-2, p. 405-419 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    Limited effectiveness of EU policies to conserve an endangered species in high nature value farmland in Romania

    Loos, J., Gallersdörfer, J., Hartel, T., Dolek, M. & Sutcliffe, L., 10.2021, In: Ecology and Society. 26, 3, 11 p., 3.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Limited knowledge flow among stakeholders of critically endangered renosterveld in South Africa

    Burghardt, S., Topp, E. N., Esler, K. J. & Loos, J., 10.2021, In: Ecology and Society. 26, 3, 17 p., 17.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Success of collaboration for sustainable agriculture: a case study meta-analysis

    Velten, S., Jager, N. W. & Newig, J., 10.2021, In: Environment, Development and Sustainability. 23, 10, p. 14619–14641 23 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  6. Published

    Tree species richness promotes an early increase of stand structural complexity in young subtropical plantations

    Perles-Garcia, M. D., Kunz, M., Fichtner, A., Härdtle, W. & von Oheimb, G., 10.2021, In: Journal of Applied Ecology. 58, 10, p. 2305-2314 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Understanding relational values in cultural landscapes in Romania and Germany

    Riechers, M., Balázsi, Á., Engler, J. O., Shumi, G. & Fischer, J., 10.2021, In: People and Nature. 3, 5, p. 1036-1046 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Woody plant species diversity and composition in and around Debre Libanos church forests of North Shoa Zone of Oromiya, Ethiopia

    Koricho, H. H., Shumi, G., Gebreyesus, T., Song, S. & Fufa, F., 10.2021, In: Journal of Forestry Research. 32, 5, p. 1929-1939 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Worse is worse and better doesn't matter? The effects of favorable and unfavorable environmental information on consumers’ willingness to pay

    Petersen, L., Hörisch, J. & Jacobs, K., 10.2021, In: Journal of Industrial Ecology. 25, 5, p. 1338-1356 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Heterotrophic cultivation of Galdieria sulphuraria under non-sterile conditions in digestate and hydrolyzed straw

    Pleissner, D., Lindner, A. V. & Händel, N., 01.10.2021, In: Bioresource Technology. 337, 8 p., 125477.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    In search of maturity models in agritechs

    Mendes, J. A. J., Careta, C. B., Zuin, V. G. & Gerolamo, M. C., 01.10.2021, In: IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 839, 2, 10 p., 022083.

    Research output: Journal contributionsConference article in journalResearchpeer-review